Blind Power
by JeramIgneal
Summary: Life was continuing on at Fairy Tail as normal. Laxus brooded while Gajeel and Levy misread each other's signals. But one day, amidst her arguments and flirtations with Natsu, Lucy noticed that Mira had been acting strangely. She wasn't at work as often as she had been, and when she was there, she was... distant. And she had been spending an awful lot of time at the graveyard.
1. Chapter 1

In the beginning, there was nothing. Not darkness, not light. Just a vast disarray of misconstrued confusion.

And then there was Talus. With eyes, one shining with a nebulous byzantium, the other of piercing gold, he envisioned a universe unlike any other: one filled with beauty, mystery, and darkness. Talus was a benevolent god, for he valued one thing over all. Freedom.

With his two mighty arms, one clad in thousands of tattoos, this god created the earth. Solid as a rock, and teeming with life. The crashing seas, their force unrelenting and ever-changing. And above all, Talus created the heavens. Inspired by the peace of the initial nothingness from which he came, Talus made the sky open and beautiful, with the his right eye to look over the night while his left kept watch by day. Thus, the sun, as well as the night sky were born.

When he was done with his work, Talus observed his creation. The beauty that he had made was unmatched, but there were things… missing. He watched the skies, for they are his to watch, and found them too empty. And he walked the earth, for it is his to walk, and found that his creation was doing no good.. It all seemed so… barren.

Thus, advanced life was born. Talus filled the earth with varieties of creatures; some good, some bad. The seas were no different. For the skies, Talus reserved for the mightiest of beasts. With hides stronger than steel, and a breath that can lead to utter destruction, combined with the ability of flight, these brutes were unmatched in strength and power.

With his creation near completion, Talus had one last task to uphold. Reflecting upon himself, he decided to make a race in his own image. They would have power, too, but none that could ever match his. He would allow them to tap into the very essence of the world. Magic. This was by far the epitome of his work, for magic was ever-changing and ever growing. It formed the basis of every establishment in this world.

XX...End Prologue...XX

It was another typical day at the guild hall. Cheery drinking was commencing all around, each large wooden table filled with arrays of different wizards, happily and groggily talking in their loud voices.

In the middle of the hall, at a table, sit Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Happy, Lisanna Strauss, and Cana and Gildarts Clive. This was a rare occasion; Gildarts was usually out and about, doing dangerous jobs. But once he had found out about his daughter, Natsu had started to see him around more.

"So, Gildarts, ready to fight me yet?" Natsu challenged expectantly.

Gildarts, unamused, glanced over to the pink-haired dragon slayer, and just shook his head. Natsu, crestfallen, slinked over to the job board. He was running low on money anyways.

Lucy was looking over towards the bar, but saw a quintessential component of the guild missing. Mirajane. "Hey Lisanna," she questioned. "Where's Mira?"

The small, fair-skinned wizard looked over, then looked down sadly in realization. "It's almost that time of year again," She exclaimed.

Confused, Lucy pried further. "What? Where is she?"

Lisanna, avoiding eye contact, clammed up. "We don't like to talk about it," She squeaked quietly.

This wasn't like the usual, friendly Lisanna that Lucy knew. Something was wrong. There was a sadness to her words, a sort of grieving. Lucy looked over to her other guildmates around the table, but they all just silently stared into their mugs. There had to be some sort of death in this topic. She was sure of it.

The silence was breached when the happy-go-lucky Natsu came back to the table, flyer in hand. "Lucy. I found us a job. We'll leave in a couple days." Lucy looked over and agreed with him, and they all continued the friendly chatter as if the awkwardness of before hadn't taken place. But still,even as the others had tried to steer the conversation away from Mira, Lucy couldn't help but glance over to the bar and wonder where the amiable woman had gone off to. But, the day wore on, ending with Gildarts and Cana eventually passing out from a drinking contest, of which Cana won. Lucy tried to forget her questions earlier, but she couldn't get them out of her mind.

As she was walking home that night, Lucy decided to go by Lisanna's old grave. She was curious to see if the Strausses had gotten rid of it now that they had found Lisanna in Edolas. Walking into the gated yard, a mist had started to hang low above the faded green grass. Every time she had ever been in the Fairy Tail graveyard, it had always seemed so deserted. There were only a few graves within it, so there weren't that many visitors, and most of them had passed away hundreds of years ago, making it even less likely for people to come visit.

Trying to to feel her way through the mist, Lucy stuck her hands out in front of her, making sure not to bump into any tombstones. The mist didn't seem natural. There might be some magic surrounding it, but Lucy couldn't sense it. The power would be too faint to notice even if it was present. Other than the muted tones of green from the grass, there was no color that Lucy could see within this place. Then, a flash of color caught her eye. Flowers.

 _Strange,_ she thought. _I've never seen any flowers left here before._

She walked over to the bouquet of orange and yellow and other warm colors, all wrapped up in a tattered old gray rag that could have been a headband. Lucy peered at the grave. It was a newer tombstone; it hadn't been there for more than a few years.

 _Why haven't I noticed this before?_ She asked herself. She looked at the writing etched into the stone, the inscription reading: _Aiyum Staul, S-Class Wizard._ This would have been surprising enough, but then she looked at the age of the wizard. _This can't be right, it says here he was 17 when he died, but he was S-Class. And he only died 3 years ago. Well, 10 if you count the time skip. This guy was a prodigy! How have I not heard of him before?_

She left the graveyard in confusion, telling herself that she would figure all of this out tomorrow at the guild's archive. Laying down on her bed, Lucy wracked her brain, trying to figure out how people hadn't told her about this Aiyum sooner. Or that there were no pictures of him, anywhere. Surely Reedus had some image of him that she could see.

 **Hello all! This is the author, Jeram Igneal! Thanks for stopping in on the story! If you haven't already, follow the story, it's how I gauge how well a story is going! It really motivates me to make new content! If you have any suggestions or constructive criticism, feel free to leave a review or PM me, it doesn't matter to me! Alright, 'til next time! Cya!**


	2. Chapter 2: Memories

**Hi all! Thanks for checking this series out! New chapters will come out EVERY wednesday at 7 PM at Eastern Daylight Time. Any suggestions/questions that you have feel free to leave in the reviews, I promise I will see them and I try to implement them if I can. Lastly, a follow and a favorite is much appreciated, as it is how I gauge how popular the story is. Fear not for this one, for it will pick up in intensity in a couple chapters. Happy reading!**

"Ugh! I don't get it!" Lucy exclaimed in exasperation. "Why can't I find anything on this guy?!" She slumped down in a chair at the Fairy Tail archive and placed her index finger on her temple in to soothe the pounding headache she had. "Even Crux couldn't find any article on an Aiyum Staul! Why is this guy so mysterious?!"

Reedus hadn't been any help either. When she asked him about a painting, he just got this far-off look in his eyes and just avoided the question. Something was off about this Aiyum character, and whatever it is was preventing everyone in the guild about talking about him.

"Aiyum Staul, I will find out who you are!" she exclaimed, combing through more and more text, trying to figure out why everyone is so vague when it comes to him.

A deep voice boomed throughout the library's walls. "You won't find anything about Staul in here."

Lucy jumped up in fright, the voice scaring her. She turned around in anger. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?" As she turned around, she saw a serious-looking Elfman standing within the hardwood doorway. She saw his expression and instantly calmed down. He started walking in. "Well, it's better for me to tell you rather than you asking around. You might ask someone who would really get upset by the memories."

"Why is everyone so afraid to talk about him? What happened, who was he?"

"It's better if I show you. That's what a real man would do, anyways." Elfman walked in and set down a small, disc-shaped object onto the table that Lucy was sitting at, taking a seat for himself. The disc was about palm-sized, with a ring of old magic inscription etched into the side. There was a small platform on top. It looked like something should be set on top of it.

"What is that?" Lucy asked.

"It's a memory analyzer." Elfman explained. " You can take an object from a wizard and look back on past memories of that person. It analyzes the remnants of the magic power by the wizard and puts them into images that we can see." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small maroon bow. "This is Mira's old hair bow. It will have the answers you're looking for." He threw it into the air above the disc, a sphere of green magic energy catching it and suspending it above the analyzer. After a few seconds, a screen popped up, with old memories of the guild hall.

It looked like the memories had taken place six or seven years previously, back before Mira and Erza were S-Class. They looked to be about fourteen. Mira was sporting her punky, gothic look, and Erza had the same armor on as always. All seemed well. Natsu and Gray were causing their usual ruckus, while the two S-Class wizards to be were butting heads. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then, the door slammed open, to reveal two older-looking teenagers and a tall man with orange hair.

The blonde hair and spiked headphones were instantly recognizable. Laxus had returned from training with another great wizard, Gildarts. But the third one was more ambiguous. He had a full-length robe, with a high collar that covered half of his face. It was extremely tattered; there were numerous patches and stitches running throughout the brown fabric, and the right sleeve was missing, revealing a muscular arm with leather straps tightened around it. Pulled over his eyes was a brown wizard's hat, as worn as the robe. Strands of white hair with silver streaks poked out from the hat. Lucy could tell that this figure was no old man, though.

As they walked through the guild hall, the fighting ceased. The normal, light-hearted chatter died down to a murmur. Gildarts was friendly enough, greeting his friends and those who looked up to him. Laxus and his counterpart said nothing. They made their way to Makarov's office, the crowd of drunken mages parting around them. The three radiated magic power.

Just before they reached the office door, something all too typical happened. Natsu, charging in from above, swooped in and grabbed the hat from the mysterious wizard.

"Alright Aiyum!" he said aggressively. "If you want this back, you're going to have to fight m-" He cut himself off once he saw the expression of the warlock's face. The brown-clad wizard looked to be about fifteen, but there was something different about him. He looked experienced, especially in using restraint. His white locks fell over his forehead, leading down to the most peculiar part of his appearance. A gray blindfold, covering both eyes. The Fairy Tail insignia was also partially covered, as it was located over his left eye. Although he couldn't see, he was still facing right towards Natsu, 'staring' him down. A serious scowl appeared on his face.

Aiyum simply held out his hand. Natsu, hanging his head, offered the hat back, as it was snatched back by the owner. Aiyum turned and followed his compatriots through the door, as the memory shimmered away.

"Wow, I've never seen Natsu act that way before," Lucy exclaimed. "He's never backed down from a fight."

"Aiyum had that effect on people. He was so… _manly_! There was something about him. He'd always try and avoid fights when possible, like he knew he'd win. When he did fight, he'd always hold back, doing only what was necessary to win. I don't think I've ever seen him go all out before."

"What was with the whole blindfold thing? How could he see?"

"I'm not quite sure, but he always held his own in a fight. It never was a handicap."

"So was that memory before the Thunder Legion? Was he on a team with Gildarts and Laxus?" she asked.

"No, they sparred together almost every day though, or at least when Gildarts was there."

"Laxus and Gildarts fighting? I'd love to see that."

"What you really want to see is Aiyum. It was scary to watch him fight." Elfman said. "Actually, I bet we can find one." He threw the bow back above the disc, and another memory popped up on the screen.

It was outside the Guild Hall. Laxus and Gildarts were standing next to each other, facing Aiyum. There were both panting heavily, along with their opponent. Aiyum had removed his cloak and hat, donning simple, patched-up clothes and leather boots, still with his blindfold on. Sweat had beaded on his forehead and dampened the cloth covering his eyes.

Then, Laxus attacked. Going into a bolt of lightning, he streaked towards his blind adversary. It looked like he was done for sure, but just as Laxus was about to fight, Aiyum thrust out his fist, right into the 18-year-old's face. He dropped like a fly. Aiyum seemed unphased by Laxus' attacked, and instead looked towards a charging Gildarts, and reciprocated by simply moving out of the way. He jumped over top of Gildarts' head, and as he was flipping over top, he stuck two fingers up the large mage's nostrils and flung him like a rag doll. Gildarts slammed onto the ground, recovering back onto his feet but criticizing Aiyum for using a dirty trick.

The memory ended, leaving Lucy even more confused. "What kind of magic did he use? All I saw was regular fighting. Maybe a little bit of athletic magic. How was he able to defeat them with only that?"

"That's why his fighting style is so impressive." Elfman replied. "He never uses his magic. His whole lifestyle was based around restraint, and only giving people what they need. No one, even his old teammate knew what kind he used. Whenever anyone asked, he just said Resistance Magic, but no one ever bought it. Some people thought he couldn't even use magic, but we knew better. He was just holding back."

"That's… terrifying." Lucy said. "So how did he die?"

"What are you two doing?" came a soft voice from the doorway. Lucy and a frightened Elfman looked over to see Mirajane.

"We were just-uh…"

She stormed over and snatched the bow from the green sphere of energy. "These memories are private!" Lucy could see tears in her eyes and heard a shakiness in her voice. She was definitely hurt. She watched as Mira ran out quickly, trying to save her dignity.

"Mira, wait!" Elfman cried as he chased after her.


	3. Chapter 3: Loss

Mirajane wasn't at the guildhall the next day, either. Lucy went over to Elfman, who she saw was drowning his sorrows at the bar. Head hung low, with his massive, muscular back hunched over some brew, he drank quietly as the young Celestial wizard approached.

"Elfman," Lucy said. "I'm sorry for making you show me some of Mira's old memories. It didn't really matter for me to know and it wasn't worth it for me to invade her privacy like that. Would you tell her I'm sorry?"

The large shapeshifter adjusted his posture. Lucy could smell the alcohol on his breath. He opened his massive mouth, with garbled speech escaping into the air. "You know my sister, she can never hold a grudge." There was a somber tone in his voice. "She'll bounce back, but it may take a little bit. I'm sure she'll be back here working the bar tomorrow."

"Where is she now?"

Elfman glanced over to Lucy. "Grieving," he muttered. "It's the anniversary of Aiyum's death."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise and realization at the magnitude of their betrayal of trust yesterday. "Oh my," she said, putting a hand to her temple and sitting down next to the mountain of a man beside her. "She must be really vulnerable right now. I feel so bad." She turned to Elfman, tears welling up in her eyes. "You have to tell me where she is, right now. I have to go and apologize!"

"Better not," he paused to take a drink. "If you thought she reacted poorly yesterday, today will be even worse."

The blonde slammed her hands on the bar and stood up from her stool. "Elfman, the last thing that she should be right now is alone! Tell me where she is so I can go and see her!" Once she had finished her rant, she looked around to see numerous pairs of eyes on her, the others picking up on how serious her tone was.

Elfman sighed and stared at his drink, like the inside of his mug was now extremely interesting. "Where do you think she is? Take a wild guess."

Under her breath, Lucy said, "The Graveyard." As she took off towards the door, Elfman stayed stationary, sulking under his grief. He continued to stare at his alcohol. _Aiyum,_ he thought. _I wish you were here right now. We could all use your help._

X...X...X

The entire day had sustained a light drizzle throughout all of Magnolia, but when Lucy left the hall, an entire storm had picked up, battering the ground underfoot. The cobblestoned streets were slick with the rain as the young Heartfilia sprinted off to the graveyard. As she was running, Lucy thought, _I hope she isn't out in this rain._ The unrelenting storm intensified around her. _This is the last thing she needs right now._

Sure enough, as Lucy approached the tombstone-laden yard, a single figure stood, looking down on a grave. Mirajane's usual pink and pastel clothes were now replaced by a simple form-fitting black dress that reached all the way to the ground. In the white-haired girl's hands was a bouquet of gold and purple flowers, all wrapped in the same cloth that Lucy encountered yesterday. She could here some mutterings from Mira to the grave; some sort of 'update' to the deceased for him to catch up on all guild news. Probably some stuff about Natsu still being his same destructive self, that Cana and Gildarts were related, stuff like that. Mira was staying even tempered and calm.

But soon, Mirajane's steady and pleasant tone of voice gave way to her sadness. Tears welled up in her eyes as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. The young lady leaned her face and arms on the headstone as she whimpered.

Quickly, Lucy rushed over and embraced Mira. She knew that the kind shapeshifter would want to be alone, but Lucy couldn't stand idly by and watch her friend be so miserable and so heartbroken. She must have already been through enough of that with Lisanna's disappearance.

Mira was initially shocked but then welcomed the embrace. She appreciated the gesture that Lucy had done. There they sat, out in the rain, leaning on the tombstone of a Fairy Tail legend. Tears mixed with raindrops as they turned their faces to the sky, sobbing.

After a good ten minutes of intense sobs, the tears began to subside between the both of them. The thundering of the storm had lightened to a moderate patter of upon their cheeks.

The round-faced Mira turned to Lucy, smiling. "Thank you for this. It's nice to not be alone for once."

"I'm so sorry for everything, Mirajane. I didn't want to do anything to offend you or invade your private memories. What's your business is your business alone." Lucy replied.

"No, I overreacted. You just wanted to know the truth about Aiyum." Mira looked out into the rain. "The truth is, he died because of me."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. Mirajane continued. "Aiyum showed up at the guild when Erza and I were about thirteen, and he was strong enough to be S-Class even then. He was always a year older than I was, but he was mature and wise beyond those years."

"Yeah," Lucy said. "I saw that one memory of him taking down Laxus and Gildarts without even using magic. It was crazy."

"He was known for that. To this day, no one knows what kind of magic he used. He was probably the most mysterious member of Fairy Tail, even more so than Mystogan was. That's probably why you couldn't find any records on him. Whenever Reedus tried to paint him, Aiyum always tore up the painting." she chuckled. "It was always an ongoing battle between those two, Reedus sketching out his face, then Aiyum tracking it down and destroying it."

Lucy cracked a sly grin. "Sounds entertaining."

Mira's eyes glittered in reminiscence. "Oh they were endearing! I always looked up to him, as did most of the other people in the guild."

"Did he have a team? Surely they would send someone like Gildarts with him to keep the guy restrained if anything were to happen on a job." Lucy asked.

"He had a teammate, alright." Mira said. "It was me. He was the only reason that I made it to S-Class as early as I did. Every year the trials took place, he would reject Makarov's offer until I made it. He was so sweet to do that. He always used to say, 'You and I, we're in this together. I'm not leaving you.'"

"He sounds like a great guy."

"He was the best friend I've ever had." Mira's voice cracked as she closed her eyes to prevent more tears from coming out, to no avail. "But now he-he's gone…"

X...X...X

They stopped conversing and listened to the soft pattering of the rain upon the grass and stone. The sorrow hung in the air like an unbearable tension, weighing them down in this rut.

Mira's face darkened as she looked downwards, towards the soggy earth. Puddles of rainwater had started to appear, the pure water mixing with the earthy soil, combining and swirling together to create a dark puddle, reflecting the thundering sky.

"You want to know what happened to him, dont you?", the sad wizard asked.

Lucy looked over. She smiled comfortingly to her usually benevolent friend. "You don't have to," she replied. "I know it would hurt to say."

"No." she stated firmly. "I want to. You're my friend and one of the only guild member that doesn't know. So I'll tell you. Actually, it's better to show you." Mira reached down into her satchel and produced the memory analyzer that Elfman had used earlier, along with the dark purple bow that they had to access Mira's memories. She placed the shiny, silver disk onto Aiyum's grave, now slick with rainwater. She held the bow above it, and a memory was produced in the form of a green aura screen.

A goth-clad Mira ran through the forest, followed closely by a white-haired teenager in a tattered robe. Aiyum. His blindfold was soaked with sweat. The forest looked familiar to Lucy, like she had been there before.

"Is that… Tenrou Island?" Lucy asked, turning away from the screen. Mira nodded.

The autumn-esque landscape was a dead giveaway. White granite underfoot, the two adolescents romped their way throughout the woods. It looked to be a couple of years after the other memory that Elfman had shown her. Aiyum had to have been about seventeen, and Lucy already knew that Mira was a year behind him in age, so she was sixteen. This wasn't just a trip to Tenrou Island, though. This was an S-Class trial. One that he and Mira passed, by Lucy's deductions. She knew that Mira passed her S-Class trial when she was sixteen, because Erza always held it over her head that she got it when she was fifteen, a year before Mirajane.

Memory-Mira turned around to Aiyum. "Hurry up, you lug! We have to find that grave before the others do!" Lucy had forgotten how aggressive Mirajane was back before Lisanna had disappeared. "How slow can you be?!"

Between pants, he called back, grudgingly, "Sorry..you know… I hate… running!" He looked as if he was about to keel over.

Frustrated, she argued back. "You take on Gildarts and Laxus together on the daily! And now you're telling me you can't handle a little run?! Pathetic!"

Their bickering ensued as they kept making their way through. Lucy could tell how close the two were, solely by the way they kept relentlessly insulting each other. In fact, the two of them reminded her a lot of herself and Natsu.

Breaking her away from the memory once again, Mira said, "We partnered up for a mission a couple years before this, and that's how we met. I had always looked up to him, and I was genuinely astonished that he needed my help for any job. We found out that we worked really well together on that job, after saving each other's lives about a hundred times." She let out a slight giggle. "Despite all the all the arguing you just saw." She turned back to the screen. "We brought the best out of each other."

Lucy looked back at the memory as well. Young Mira had stopped running. The two had come up upon a large cave, with a bright light shining at the end of it.

"The grave," Aiyum said. "That's gotta be it. I can feel the magic power from here."

A satisfied grin ran across Mira's determined face. "Let's go win this thing."

They took off on a full-out sprint, their energy revitalized by the promise of success. They quickly got through the dank tunnel. By the time they had fully travelled it, the white light had turned blinding. They stopped at the entrance.

Aiyum turned to his partner. He gestured comically towards the hole in the wall. "After you, m'lady."

Mira rolled her eyes and scoffed lightheartedly as they approached the gravesite of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion. The yard was beautiful, dozens of tangled roots forming a cocoon to protect the First Master. White gravel crunched underfoot, with green and orange grass sprouting up in patches all around. Tree limbs hung down, adding foliage to the environment. This was truly a grave suited for a fairy.

But as they lumbered further into the yard, something happened of which they did not expect. A large source of black energy exploded in between them and Mavis' headstone. Tendrils of black electricity shot out from the large, explosive sphere in front of them. The pair put up their arms to shield their faces from the attack. They gritted their teeth and held their stances firmly, trying to defend against all this power. Their previously happy demeanor had shifted into utter seriousness in a heartbeat.

As the sphere dissipated, a figure stood in the center of where it once was. A ring of once white rock now remained as scorched earth. The figure was tall and slender, with a poised position. The dust settled more, and it was revealed that this was no man- it looked much more menacing. Black licks of hair swathed every inch of it's body, excluding its face and hands.

"A vulcan!" Aiyum cried. "But how did a vulcan get on Tenrou island?!"

He was answered by a depp, collected voice, which was unusual for vulcans, for they were creatures that relied heavily on instinct rather than sophisticated thought. "You need not ask questions of which you will receive no answers. I defy all, for I am not supposed to exist in the first place."

He was right. There were no such things as black vulcans, especially none that were intelligent thinkers. The ape-like creature spoke once more. "I defy all logic, as you will see." He held out his arm, and as he did so, a black bow appeared, shimmering into existence. "This is a death bow," It explained. "Whomever is pierced by its arrow shall become one with death, no matter how powerful a wizard they are." As he drew the weapon, a menacing-looking arrow appeared on the string.

There was utter silence. The tip of the arrow wasn't aimed at any one target yet; it seemed like the thing was trying to decide who to fight first. The furrowed brow of the primate beaded with sweat from holding so much magic power in such a tight form, but he didn't falter once.

In the tension, the silence was broken by some slight giggling. Both the vulcan and Aiyum turned their heads towards the source, puzzled. Her giggling had turned into a full-out, hearty laugh. Mira stared the creature down. "We're two near S-Class wizards. Your puny arrows don't scare us." The archer grit his teeth. "Not to mention we're from Fairy Tail, the strongest wizard guild in Fiore. You're trespassing on our guild's sacred grounds." She started to transform into her Satan Soul. Her voice deepened as she did. "So if I were you," she said, licking her lips in anticipation, "I'd start running."

Even looking at the memory, Lucy was intimidated. She had forgotten just how scary Mira was back before they had crossed paths.

The vulcan didn't share Lucy's reaction. It stood calmly, still wielding it's weapon and pointing it towards her. "You will be the first to die," it called out in it's deep voice. It was scary how collected this seemingly primitive being was. As the beast finished it's sentence, it released the arrow, propelling forwards at breakneck speeds.

Although it was fast, the Satan Soul was faster. She easily dodged the black projectile, letting it whiz past and into the trunk of a tree. As soon as the tip sank into the mighty hardwood's bark, the tree withered, eventually breaking down into black magic dust that floated up with the coming breeze.

Aiyum witnessed this and called out to his combat-engaged partner. "Watch out, Mira. This guy means business."

She was in midair, dodging volley after volley of these arrows, slowly making her way towards her adversary. She reciprocated in her demonic voice. "Instead of offering battle tips, why don't you come over here and help me out?!" An arrow flew past her shoulder.

"Nah, you got this," he casually replied. "I'm gonna just hang out and enjoy the show." He sat down and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. He was grinning.

"Ugh, you are impossible!" She closed the gap to a mere couple of feet between her and the archer. Right as she was about to decimate her enemy, a black magic circle appeared under her her feet, at least fifteen feet in diameter. "Uh oh," she said, as a sphere of black magic similar to the one earlier sent her flying back onto her tail.

Aiyum, seeing this, decided it was time to intervene. He stood up and got ready to fight.

"It's about time!" Mira called in exasperation. "What kind of teammate are you?"

Lucy could tell he wanted to lash back, but it was time for business. He was completely focused on the fight, and nothing could tear him away from it. He charged the vulcan. Dodging arrows without the help of any magic, Lucy wondered how he could evade every one with a blindfold on. Right as he was a few feet away from the attacker, he jumped up, and right on time, too. Below the blindfolded wizard was the same spell that had just zapped Mira. As gravity pulled him downwards, the sphere vanished, to reveal an unsuspecting vulcan, just waiting to get punched. This would be the time of battle that Natsu would scream something ridiculous as he was about to hit, but Aiyum remained completely silent, a stern look on his face. This was nothing like the wisecracking mage a from a few moments ago. He connected a strong kick to the back of the creature's head, crumpling it to the ground. Aiyum had knocked it out with one blow.

MIrajane turned back into her old self, letting the Satan Soul sink back into the depths of her magic power. She walked over and stood next to Aiyum, examining the rare monster that lay before them. She nudged it with her foot to make sure that it was down for the count. "Now that you're done showing off, let's go do the thing that we were _supposed_ to have been doing."

The two of them walked towards the grave, which consisted of multiple, rectangular-shaped rocks with a small bit of magic flame burning in the center of it.

"Do we just… touch the flame?" Aiyum suggested, puzzled.

"I guess so. Let's do it." she replied.

"Together?"

"Together."

He grabbed her hand and looked at her. Blood rushed to her pale face as turned it pink. The mage smirked as he moved their hands to the flare of heat. A foot away. Six inches. Three. Two.

Just as their fingers were licked by a tendril of fire, both of their magic auras began to glow. Mira's was a dark pink, almost purple, whereas Aiyum's was a vast array of different colors, shifting, growing, and shrinking erratically. It looked as if the different colors were vying for dominance, but did so in complete and total harmony.

They stepped backwards, the flame growing steadily brighter. It grew enough so that it engulfed the entire tombstone. It became hard to look at, so much so that Mirajane had to avert her eyes. Obviously, Aiyum didn't have that problem. The fire continued to enlarge, until suddenly, it drew in on itself, reverting back to its previous size. Two giant pillars of light erupted from the stone, each of the wizard's respective auras.

"It's a beacon," Mira said, looking up in awe.

"We did it," Aiyum responded in satisfaction. He stared into her eyes. "Together."

They hadn't let go of each other's hands yet. He squeezed hers tighter as they admired the symbol of their accomplishment.

Mira took comfort in the slight pressure that his hand was imposing on hers. They stood there for a couple of minutes, transfixed on the hypnotic shafts of magic power that were shooting up into the quickly fading sunlight. _This is perfect,_ she thought.

As soon as that thought had entered her mind, Mira felt Aiyum's grip slacken. She turned around to see him looking down at his chest in disbelief. In the center of his upper abdomen, a foreign object protruded forwards. It was the tip of a black arrow that had sank all the way through his torso. The vulcan had, in it's final moments, came to and put all his magic power into one final arrow. The monster was now turning into black dust, shimmering away into the air.

Aiyum groaned, still standing.

"Dammit," He said, falling backwards onto the ground.


	4. Chapter 4:Living

**Hello readers! It's Wednesday again- meaning another chapter of Blind Power! I've been working on this a lot lately, and I hope you like it. Leave a review if you have any constructive criticism/suggestions. As always, leave a follow on it if you like it and wanna see more, it's greatly appreciated. I've got a lot more cooking!**

"No!" Mira cried. "No no no no no!" She stooped down onto the ground. Her partner was disintegrating quickly into black magic energy. Mira put his head in her lap and cradled him in her arms, bawling. Tears flowed like a river down her face, dropping onto the disappearing body of Aiyum.

He sputtered, trying to speak. His lower legs were gone, the spell moving up past the knees and on to his thighs. He held his hand to her face, damp with tears. He caressed her cheek, wiping the teardrop from it. "Shhh…" he said weakly. "It's not the end. I'll see you again. I promise."

She leaned on his hand, trying to take comfort as her best friend was fading fast. She lost support as his hand broke into particles and fluttered away into the night sky. They held an intense stare now. Tears had soaked his blindfold; it could be plainly seen. The spell had worked all the way up to his chest, leaving only a head and the upper torso.

Struggling to find the words, Aiyum breathed his last. "I-will...see you...again…"

The voice trailed off as his body vanished entirely. All he left behind was his blindfold, a ratty piece of old cloth that matched the rest of his attire, which had left with him. There was still intense magical power emanating from it.

But with his last sentence, he was gone. Shimmered away into the now night sky, the light still shooting up from the tombstone. But now, only Mira's pink beacon remained. The multicolored, ever-changing aura had left, along with it's master. Fairy Tail's strongest wizard, gone.

A blubbering Mira remained, an utterly alone S-Class wizard with only a small piece of tattered cloth in her hands.

The screen went away, leaving Lucy completely struck with sorrow and sympathy for Mira. She couldn't believe how painful that must have been. Immediately she embraced her friend once more. "That must have been so hard," she said. "You've lost so much."

She felt Mira shake from the sobs that were about to erupt. The rain had intensified once again, but they didn't care. It was nothing compared to what Mirajane was going through. "That day…" she said, softly. "It felt like someone had taken a hook and ripped out my insides. It was awful. And when Lisanna came back, it gave me hope that maybe he was in Edolas too. But he's dead. And nothing I can do can bring him back." The pair had started to hear the sound of footsteps pounding on the ground, splashing the groundwater, coming closer. Mira continued. "We spent so much time together those last two years." Her voice wavered. "I think I-"

"We got an emergency!" sounded Natsu's voice through the rain.

"Can't you see we're in the middle of something?!" yelled Lucy in indignance.

"Yeah, but this is urgent!" he shouted back. Lucy saw that behind him were three Exceeds: Happy, which wasn't unusual, but he was accompanied by Carla and Panther Lilly. Natsu continued. "Gajeel and Wendy were taken captive!"

x...X...x

The three wizards, along with the Exceeds, were printing towards the train station before Lucy could even get a sentence out. "What do you mean, 'taken hostage'? They're dragon slayers, can't they take care of themselves?"

Panther Lilly spoke up. "I've never seen anything like the guy that took them down. He was completely insane, yet he had everything calculated perfectly. He reminded me a lot of Samuel now that I think about it."

They were all panting heavily once they had boarded the train, except Natsu, who was already on the ground with motion sickness. The train hadn't even started moving.

The others ignored him and kept on talking about what had happened previously.

"We were all on a job, on that specifically asked for dragon slayers. We had to exterminate a pack of monsters from a property." said Carla. "It was running quite smoothly until i came time to collect the payment. That was when the beast showed up.

Mira looked perplexed. "Beast?" she asked. She had swallowed her sorrow for the time being and decided to tag along to help her fellow guild mates. An S-Class wizard would make a huge difference in saving their friends.

Lilly interjected. "That's the best way to describe the person we encountered. When we went to collect, someone in a white robe was waiting there for us. We assumed it was the employer, ready to pay us the agreed amount." He faltered. "But the entire job was a sam. To get the two together, delivered right to his doorstep."

"What does he want with them?" Lucy questioned.

"Once he had paralyzed us, he took the wizards and said that the era of the dragon slayers was over, that it was time for him to put an end to their existence. The only reason he let us go is because he thought we'd bring Natsu to him." Lilly looked down in sorrow.

"Well aren't we doing that?" Mira said. "Aren't we just walking into another trap?"

"Natsu is probably the only one that can stand up to this guy, with his ability to increase magic power as the fight goes on," said Happy. "Carla and Lilly said that in order to paralyze his opponents, the guy drained their magic power first. But Natsu is the strongest of the dragon slayers. He has the best chance of beating this goon."

They all looked down at the death-like Natsu, still on the ground, motionless. His face had turned a pale blue. "I...think...I'm...dying…" he squeaked. His foot twitched involuntarily.

Lucy, less than impressed, said, "I hope we can trust this flame-for-brains here, 'cause right now he's pretty pathetic." Natsu groaned in discomfort. Lucy and Mira simultaneously smacked their foreheads with their palms.

Ignoring the pitifully sick dragon slayer, Mira pried further into the story. "Why did you call the captor a beast?"

Lilly looked up. "He was no man, but he was not fully a monster either. He looked like...like…"

"What?!"

He sighed. "Like a dragon. But with the body of a human. His entire form was covered with scaled, but had a head of a reptile.

Both their eyes widened in surprise.

x...X...x

It took about four hours of zooming past the Fiore countryside for the Fairy Tail gang to get to their destination. Natsu had been rolling in agony the entire time.

As they were walking off the train and onto the boarding platform, Natsu managed a few words. "I'm...never...riding a train...again…"

Happy, contently perched upon his friend's pink hair, said, "Oh Natsu, you say that every time you get off one."

"And it would be true if I didn't have these people around to drag me back onto them!"

His cat smiled smugly. "Yeah, youre right. Lucy is kind of a pain."

The blonde Celestial wizard glared at the blue feline & got in his face. "Want to say that again, cat?"

Carla interrupted this heartwarming encounter. "Now now you neanderthals. Don't forget why we're here."

Lucy grated her teeth in restraint. She whispered threateningly. "Next time, furball."

They made their way out of the train station and into the town surrounding it. Natsu pondered his surroundings. "Why are we in Bilten again?"

"This is where the property is where Wendy and Gajeel were taken," Said Panther Lilly. "It's the best place for you to pick up their scent."

they walked block after block of the brick-laden streets. Bilten was actually a beautiful city. It was no Magnolia, by any means, but it had it's smaller-city charms. The architecture was older in style and having the streets made of brick instead of paved with concrete gave it a good atmosphere. The group enjoyed taking in the city, despite the dark problem that they had to amend.

Natsu kept on noticing the same poster around town. It looked like a regular job sign, but with an unbelievable reward amount on it. He walked over to one and pulled it from it's nail on the wall. He observed it carefully. It was a wanted sign. For an outlaw. It read: _WANTED: The Renegade. Master of Magic, hard to track. Responsible for deaths of many Dark Wizards._

"Guys, look at this!" he said. He showed them the job sign. The amount was extremely surprising to them as well. "Once I beat the living crap out of this lizard guy, let's go do this job! We can split the reward!"

Lucy snatched the poster from his hands. "This guy seems like bad news." She went over to a towny and asked, "Excuse me, do you know anything about this man? The uh.. Renegade?"

The citizen's face was flushed of color when she said the name. Nervously,he responded. "He's supposed to be the strongest wizard in existence." He gulped and looked around nervously. "He's gone around Fiore and completely destroyed dark guilds, along with all of their members. Everyone he finds guilty dies. I think he thinks he's doing good, not everyone deserves to die. The thing that makes him so deadly is that he uses every type of magic. He's supposedly a master of every type. If I were you, I'd keep away from him." He walked off nervously.

Lucy turned back to Natsu and resumed walking to their destination. "I dunno Natsu, he seems pretty strong. I don't know if we could take him."

Natsu shrugged her doubt aside. "You worry too much. All I see is large reward for just one guy. Heheh." Even though two of his friends were missing, he still had a smile on his face, most likely his confidence shining through. They kept walking.

"We're here," said Carla. They all looked up. This house was extremely large. Lucy knew it wasn't even close to her palace of a house, but the group could tell that it was once a sought-after piece of real estate.

It was an old plantation style home, like a Frank Lloyd Wright. However, time had definitely degraded its grandeur. The white paint was peeling off from the siding, revealing gray, rotting cedar. Shingles were missing in sporadic places around the entirety of the roof, and weeds had overgrown the picket fence surrounding the yard. It was truly a depressing sight, to see something so beautiful fall from grace.

"This is so sad," Mira said, examining the dilapidated nature of the mansion. She looked to Carla and Lilly. "Didn't you think that this was a little suspicious after you saw the house?"

Carla closed her eyes and put her nose in the air. "Well, we weren't going to turn around after so long on the train. Gajeel would've thrown a fit."

The wizards had almost forgotten that Gajeel had developed the same motion sickness that Natsu had. Dragon slayers were so weird with vehicles.

The others heard Natsu sniffing the air. They quieted down so that he could concentrate on his tracking. Following his nose, he lead them to the backyard of the house, which turned out to be gargantuan. The picket fence shot outwards past the small borders of the front yard and extended around a forest; the group couldn't even see where it ended. It encompassed an entire mountain.

With his eyes closed and nose open, Natsu picked up the pace, the scent trail leading him into the dark woods.

"Of course we have to go into the creepy forest." Lucy said nervously. "Why wouldn't we?" She looked up to the summit of the mountain. The storm from earlier had cleared up, but now the sun was setting on the horizon. By the time they would reach the top, it would definitely be dark.


	5. Chapter 5: Fallen

After a couple hours of hiking through the monstrous thicket, the group of mages stood at the base of a cliff, shooting straight up the mountain.

"Great. Your nose led us straight into a wall," Lucy said.

Happy, resting on Natsu's shoulder, whispered in his ear. "Don't listen to that cow. Her stupidity rivals her weight."

It looked like a vein was going to pop out of Lucy's head. "THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A CAT, AND I'M GONNA USE ALL OF 'EM ON YOU!"

As the two continued arguing, Natsu blocked them out, trying to focus solely on the scent of his two missing friends. He looked up the mountain. They were no doubt on the summit. He could smell more than just them, though. There were two others on that mountain with them. He inhaled strongly, letting the smells from the air slowly waft into his senses. Their scents were familiar. He'd fought them before. Another strong sniff. _No doubt about it. That's Sting and Rogue. The other two dragon slayers. This guy isn't messing around about making us extinct._

"Happy, I'm gonna need a ride up." he said.

The blue cat turned from his shouting match with Lucy. "Aye, sir!" He materialized his wings and grabbed on to Natsu's back, lifting him into the air.

"Lilly, Carla. Give the other two a lift." said the fire wizard.

"Lilly, you're probably the only one strong enough to pick up big ol' Lucy" Happy added, cackling as he flew upwards with his friend.

The pair soared upwards at breakneck speeds, skimming the surface of the cliff face. Happy could tell that Natsu was preparing for battle. His heart rate had elevated, and the pink-haired wizard's hand started to twitch in anticipation.

Once they got to the summit, the two of them couldn't believe their eyes.

"It's a giant machine!" Natsu declared. And he was right. The rig in front of them was in a large circle shape, with five posts surrounding the giant circle. Rotating in the center was a huge blade, swirling around the circle at a moderate pace.

"It kinda looks like a clock," Happy noticed.

"Yeah, but I get the feeling it's a whole lot worse than that, buddy. Look." On each of the four of the five bordering poles, a figure was chained. Upon further examination, Natsu could see that it was the other four dragon slayers. The blade was swinging precariously close to their necks every time it made it's way around to them. At the very center of contraption, a reptilian creature stood, waiting on a platform for the fifth and final dragon slayer.

Natsu's face became shrouded with shadows. From his core to his skin, rage started to boil in the form of flame. He cocked his head backwards to his friend once they were directly above the reptilian adversary. "Let go of me, Happy."

"Aye, sir!"

As soon as his feline friend was out of harm's way, Natsu's skin erupted in a flurry of intense heat, a tongue of fire shooting out from every pore of his body. He free-fell downwards, a fiery meteor about to destroy his opponent. His speed reached close to mach as he propelled himself with such intense fire magic. As he got closer and closer to his target, he shifted his falling position to a feet first fall, instead of a nosedive.

He landed on the platform, shaking it as he did so. He was only a couple feet from the creature that had taken the other slayers hostage. An aura of orange flame engulfed the wizard. He glared at his opponent intently, his eyes glowing with passion. "I don't know who you are, or what you want with my friends, but frankly, I don't care. If you mess with Fairy Tail, then I'll show you the meaning of pai-"

He cut himself off, and dropped to his knees, holding his stomach.

For the first time, the lizard man spoke to him. Cracking a sharp-toothed grin, he said, "Ah, your stomach has caught up with you I see. Good." His voice was strange. It wasn't what you'd expect from a lizard. It was more of a know-it-all-ish kind of voice, as if it stored pretension in every word. His red scales glistened, even though there was no light to reflect. The creature proceeded to explain as he picked Natsu up and chain him to the final pole. "As you have clearly seen, this entire platform is moving. Albeit, slowly, but rotating nonetheless. The perfect trap for such advanced dragon slayers as yourselves." He finished locking up the fire mage and put his hands behind his back, admiring his work.

Natsu struggled to force words out of his mouth without vomiting. He had turned green. "Fairy Tail will stop you… We have an… S-Class wizard on the way…"

The reptilian hybrid smirked with the notion. "Ah yes, your little friends. Let me assure you that they won't come into harm's way. They were much easier to contain than expected." As he snapped his claw-tipped fingers, a cage made from magic energy appeared in the air, above the center platform. In it contained Lucy, Mirajane, and the Exceeds. All were unconscious. The magic energy comprising the bars solidified into a trap composed of gray stones, marked with green glowing runes. "And even if you do escape, which you won't in this pitiful state, rest assured that you can't save them. Only I have that power. Observe." He gestured for Natsu to look at his friends. "See those runes, marking the bars? Those are connected to my life force. That cage is impenetrable. I can teleport them out, but that cage is permanent so long as I live."

"Why...are you doing this?" Natsu grunted weakly. The rig's rotation, although painfully slow, kept him immobilized to the point that he couldn't fight.

The lizard's beady eyes blinked, his tongue slithering out as he did so. "Why?" he said. "Because I need your power. I tried to be the Salamander so long ago, but now I will be a true dragon! Not some half-pint wizard!" He turned towards the cage and pointed at Lucy. "That girl, along with your help, ruined my slave trade business! Ever since, I've been outcast, poor, on the streets. It was awful. But then, I realized that it was all your fault!"

A flash of realization sparked in Natsu's memory as he realized who was in front of him. "You're that one guy… that day I met Lucy… what happened to you?"

"Correct, young dragon slayer. Bora is the name. I bet you're shocked by my appearance. Well, let me tell you , this was no easy matter. Took me about four years to get the potion right!" He chuckled. "But now, I'm more of a dragon than you ever can be! And I'm about to become a real one! See this blade, Salamander?" He pointed to the giant revolving edge that swung around the rig. "It's engraved with a parasitic magic charm. Once that blade touches you, it will take all of your magic from you and conveniently store it within me." He flashed a toothy smirk.

Bora walked up to the main platform and up to a control module. He started flipping switches and drawing rune spells on various locations on his body. Once he had finished his start up process he focused back on Natsu. "Sorry it had to come to this, old friend. But I have simply left humanity behind. It's time for me to make the next move in the evolution of magic! Bon voyage!" He flipped the switch and the giant enchanted blade started spinning faster and faster with every rotation. Not only that, but the edge of it was getting precariously closer to the unconscious dragon slayers.

Within the cage, Lucy had come to and woken Mira. She observed the giant knife that was getting ever nearer to her friends' necks. She clung on to the magic bars, desperately trying to help the slayers. Her keys hadn't worked from the moment she got in; it must have had some sort of anti-magic property.

The blade's speed had picked up so much that it only looked like a blur, like a ceiling fan on a high setting. It was three inches away now. Lucy's mind and heart raced. There was nothing she could do. Two inches away. She picked up her keys and frantically tried to call on aid. Nothing. Once inch. She slumped in defeat, thrusting her arms through the bars, trying with all her might to get to her friends. The blade was about to reach their necks now.

"NATSU!" she cried, in her last moments of seeing her friend.

But then, something extraordinary happened, of unearthly origin.

In the blink of an eye, the entire machine exploded, from the center outwards. Bits of flaming metal flew in every direction. As the smoke cleared, they saw a figure in the wreckage, facing Bora. It was too far to see exactly who it was.

Bora looked around in horror. "No!" He screamed "NOOOO! Eight years worth of work, destroyed in seconds!" Enraged, he clenched his reptilian fists and faced the vandal. "You'll burn for this!"

He spouted a large column of purple fire from his fists, but their savior simply sprouted wings and shot off into the sky, evading the attack.. The flames shot off the side of the summit, in a huge display of pyrotechnics. Bora had gotten so much stronger in the past eight years.

"Who is that?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know…" Mirajane replied. "I've never seen a transformation like that."

Lucy had to admit it was strange. Mira was a master of transformation magic but had never encountered such a spell as the one this wizard was using. One wing was white and clad in feathers, akin to the spell that Exceeds used. But the strange part was that the other wing didn't match. In the stead of white, ethereal feathers, the right wing consisted of several bony segments that were bound together by a black, leathery layer of skin. It was a demonic wing. The two limbs, while looking the inverse of each other, worked in perfect harmony, moving their owner through the night sky with grace and speed.

The angered voice of Bora pierced through the darkness. "So that's how you're gonna play! Don't sorry, I can play along!" With that, the sky exploded in purple fire. It looked like a volcano had erupted, and it was headed straight for the flying mage.

"I can't watch this!" Mira said, turning away. But Lucy couldn't unglue her eyes from the scene unfolding in front of her. Right before the flame reached him, the winged man calmly outstretched his arm, in front of it appearing a light blue magic circle. It was ice magic. As quickly as the fire had appeared, it froze completely over. The wizard proceeded to dive bomb through his column of frozen inferno, smashing it as he went along. Tiny fragments of frozen magic flew in every direction. He was making his way down, back to Bora.

"He froze… fire…" Lucy said in disbelief. "How is that even possible?!"

As he finished blasting his way to the ground, he landed back onto the metal ground with earth-shattering force that knocked the lizard man off his feet. Two yellow magic circles appeared around his hands, and summoned dual strands of lightning. The figure twirled them around the entire machine, expertly using them as whips to destroy the bonds that held the dragon slayers.

Natsu fell to the ground from the post he was chained to, gearing up to fight. "Alright, now I've got a fire in my belly! You're going down Bora!" He immersed himself in his dragon flames, and charged. But as he did so, the figure shoved out his hand to stop him.

He growled to Natsu. "This is my fight, man. Stay out of it. Go see if your friends are okay."

Without even thinking, the Salamander stopped.

"I know that voice," he said under his breath. It was out of reflex that he stopped, as if he knew not to disobey this particular wizard. Still, he dutifully went to check on his counterparts.

After warding off Natsu, the mysterious man turned back to his opponent, which had finished getting off the ground and recovering from the extreme force of the magic that had surrounded him.

At first, the reptile was enraged, but it's expression changed once he saw the face of his enemy. His eyes widened and were filled with fear. "I know who you are. You're the one they call The Re-"

His trembling voice was cut off by a tan hand clutching his throat and squeezing to the near point of crushing the creature's windpipe.

"Don't say it. I was never fond of that name." He then proceeded to drop-kick the lizard a hundred feet in the air with brutal force, and then suspending him midair with levitation magic.

 _Could this be him?_ Lucy thought. _A brutal master of every form of magic? The Renegade?_ She watched as the man launched attack after brutal attack on the lizard, injuring him past the point of all recovery. She saw every single color of the rainbow within his different magic circles, from heavenly light to deathly black, and every shade in between. His attacks were merciless, destroying the disfigured Bora even more.

"Dark magic is bad enough as it is." He said, calling up to the battered Bora, still hanging in the night sky, suspended by levitation magic. His voice was gruff, but young. The very aggression could be heard in his voice. "I try not to kill, the media always blows my actions out of proportion. But you tried to kill Fairy Tail wizards and that's unforgivable."

His muscular hands started to glow white. He moved them in sequence with each other, creating a white circle in the air in front of him. He called out into the night. "You wanted dragon slayer magic, and you're gonna get it the most powerful type there is!"

The night air settled and silenced itself as The Renegade finished his spell. The other wizards could tell that something impossibly powerful was about to happen. They all scrambled for cover to get away from the possible danger.

"Dragon Slayer Legendary Art: Nebula!" He thrusted his hands forward, through the plain white circle in front of him. As he did, hundreds of dragon slayer magic circles appeared next to each other, of all different colors. They formed a beam leading to Bora, and then ignited in a force that none of the viewers had ever seen.

Natsu looked upon the magnificent sight. He had tears in his eyes as the shockwave blasted him backwards.

"So much magic power…"

The beam of power shot infinitely into the night sky, and ended as the mage put his muscular arms by his side.

Mira and Lucy watched in a mix of wonder and shock. As the spell vanished, so did their cage, signifying the death of Bora. They tumbled towards the ground, and were about to hit when the mysterious mage slowed their descent with his magic, laying them gently on the ground. Natsu had returned with the other dragon slayers, who had all come to and were relatively unscathed. He went over to Lucy and Happy to check if they were alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucy said, groaning.

Mira stood up, but was towards the back of their group. She struggled to get a look at their rescuer, The Renegade. He turned towards them. When he did, he left the in utter shock.

Standing in front of the Fairy Tail guild members was a young man, no more than a couple years older than them. He wore a dragon tooth earring on his left ear, which was almost covered up by the brown, tattered collar of his robe. Under it, he wore simple woolen clothes, lined with patches and stitches. His white and gray head of hair was in sharp contrast to his tan skin. He seemed to radiate magic power.

The most peculiar part of his appearance, though, was the ratty, gray blindfold that covered his eyes.

Mirajane was too stunned to talk, or to move.

Natsu blurted out, "Aiyum? Is that really you?"

Silence followed Natsu's outburst. The entire group was shocked to even see that he was standing before them. Aiyum just stood there, stunned at the fact that someone knew his name. He opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are."


	6. Chapter 6: My Birth

The first thing I remember is darkness. I wasn't afraid, just confused. There was a vast amount of nothingness encapsulating me; it felt like I was in some sort of purgatory.

But then, the darkness ceased. I was floating, still in a place with no boundaries. But I could tell that there was life around me. Everywhere, from my head all the way to below my feet, was a stretch of galactic nebula. Stars dotted the infinite space like flowers in a field, in the height of spring. It was calm. And beautiful.

But then, the silence was breached by a display of great beauty and power, enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest of men, and enough to make the most powerful wizards shed tears joy.

When He appeared, it was as if reality itself warped and contorted to the whims of this being. A brilliant flash of white light appeared, taking up my entire vision. I had to close my eyes to stop the pain of how much light was flooding into them. When it subsided, I opened them, to see a giant sentient torso in front of me. I could tell that this was just a projection of the real spirit that wanted to meet with me.

In addition to being as large as the galaxy, this entity was equally as powerful in physique. Although he bore a long, white beard with matching locks, he was well built, with extreme muscle definition. Every contour of his body was perfect and well-crafted, like it was made by angels. Over his tan skin, He donned a plain tunic, simply wrapped with a humble rope.

And then there were his eyes. They were majestic. Although not symmetrical, they displayed immense beauty, as well as emotion. Neither had a pupil, but was filled with so much more than a normal eyeball. One was a serene goldish white, piercing my vision just like the light that had appeared when he showed up. The other eye was just as stunning. It looked like a reflection of the universe surrounding us, a dark purple, with galaxies of stars residing within it. Both looked like they held immense compassion, along with pain and anger. But most of all, it seemed like they brought among them power. Just gazing into them made me feel stronger as a person.

I shook my head in awe and mustered some words. "Wh-Who are you?"

Neither stern nor ambivalent, his face expression remained stoic. "I am who I am."

His voice was deep but kind. The universe seemed to ripple with every annunciation of his vocalizations. Without a doubt, whoever this was, they were in charge of whatever place I was in.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This is the entire universe," He replied, holding up his arms, gesturing. "Everything that has ever existed, exists currently, or will in the future lies here, in this plane. It is the middle ground, between lives. Impressive, is it not?"

"Yeah," I said, looking around in wonder. Small stars twinkled and blinked in the far off distance. I turned back to him. "Do you know why I'm here? Better yet, who I am?"

"I do."

"Well?"

"Most questions can't be answered solely by others, my child. You must look within yourself to find the answers. I can tell you this: your name is Aiyum Staul, and you are here for a reason."

"But why?" I asked in confusion. "I know that you can't tell me everything, but did I have a life before this? Was I just created? What do you need me for?"

An image shimmered up next to the god. It was of a white haired girl in a pink dress, with blue eyes and a kind smile on her face. She was attractive enough, but I felt some sort of guilt upon seeing her face. It seemed like I knew her sometime before.

"This is your goal. In ten years time, you will meet this girl once again. It is of vital importance that you meet her again. She is more important than you know."

Her image, along with His, started to fade into the black galactic surroundings. "Wait! Stop!" I cried out. "I have more questions! Please!" I reached out to try and grab Him, but he just faded away.

And then I awoke.

Jolting upright, my head smacked into something small and dense before I even opened my eyes.

But when I did, I noticed something strange. My vision wasn't like that of which I had in the dream. Every time I blinked and looked around, I saw my surroundings in flashes of color and auras. The colors would make hard outlines, allowing me to get a sense of environment. I saw that I was within a cave, with green glowing moss and grass overgrowing the craggy rock floor.

On the ground was a pale pink aura, in the form of a small girl, probably about twelve or thirteen. She was sitting down and rubbing her head in pain. She turned to me, wincing. "What was that for?!" She said snippily. "I try and help you, and you repay me with a headbutt?"

I held my hand to my temple, which was pounding ferociously. "Sorry, I'm just having trouble seeing right n-"

My voice stopped as I massaged my temple and felt a piece of cloth on my face. I felt around further and found that it was covering my eyes. A blindfold? Why would I blindfold myself? I was about to remove it, but the little one with a pink aura stopped me once she saw what I was doing.

"Whoa there tiger," she said, bringing my hands down. "It took me forever to get that on there. When I found you, you were spewing magic power from your eyes. That cloth is laced with an extremely strong containment spell. I'd keep it on if I were you."

I put my hands back down quickly. Magic power? Containment spell? My head was filled with so many more questions. "So I have to see things like this forever?"

Her expression was puzzled. Her entire personality was extremely charismatic; her emotions played upon her face openly, without any filter.

"I didn't even know you could see. But here." She held her hand up to my face and two circles floated up, just an inch in front of each eye. They consisted of numerous intricate symbols. They disappeared quickly, shooting a beam into each eyeball before they went. I blinked, and saw everything in natural color.

"Wow," I said, blinking more and more to readjust my eyes. "Thank you."

I got my first good look at my caretaker. She looked young and vital, with a full head of blonde hair. On each side, a small wing poked out. She had a pink dress, with different patterns lining it. Her skin was fair and pale.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She smiled and giggled as if it was a stupid question. "You don't know who I am?" she said. "What kind of a Fairy Tail wizard doesn't know the founder of their guild?"

I wracked my brain, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Guilds? Wizards? My mind raced, trying to comprehend what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her expression shifted from one of amusement to that of annoyance. "Oh boy."

X...X...X

It took all night for me to grasp the concept of the world that I was living in. It all just seemed so far-fetched to me; like it couldn't even exist. I learned so much in that first day. I can't thank her enough for working with me through my problems.

After I had came to and told her that I knew nothing about who I was or what the world held, the little girl helped me up from my makeshift bed of grass and leaves, and out to the light of the outside world.

We went outside of the cave, out into a beautiful wilderness. It was surreal; the sky was a gorgeous pale blue, with puffy white clouds lazily making their way across the sky, without threatening to rain.

The long grass surrounded the entrance to the cave, but was shorter around a type of 'yard' that encompassed a few acres. Some dirt was exposed, with bluebirds digging for food within the ground. Large maples and oaks were holding position firmly, their leaves swaying in the breeze, along with the grass. Flowers bloomed here and there, dotting the yard. The late afternoon sun was casting a golden glow over the entire environment.

Walking further out into the yard, I saw past the tall grass and large oaks, finding a spectacular sight.

This entire area was sitting on the edge of a mountain, overlooking a large forest of green trees and white rock. The main focal point of the landscape was a giant tree, it's twisting roots spiraling around each other and barreling down into the ground. _That must be the power of magic,_ I thought. _To create beauty and life._

A flock of birds flew overhead, not but twenty feet above the ground that I was standing. A few feet away from me, there was a similarly colored rock to those down below. I ran my hands over its surface, feeling a sort of chalky residue escape onto my hands. I brushed the boulder off and sat down, absorbing the dreamlike landscape in front of me. The chirping of birds played like music in the background.

I experienced a sensation of euphoria, a feeling that I was sky high, and that anything was possible. Although I knew this wasn't when I came into this world, it's how I learned everything that I know. _This is my birth._

I sat there, in heightened spirits, for a good ten minutes, feeling the life all around me, bathing in the sunlight and being cooled by the breeze. I closed my eyes (although they were underneath a blindfold) and extended my arms outwards and to the sky, spreading my diaphragm completely. I inhaled deeply, swathed in the wind, drinking it all in.

Then, the little girl from earlier sat down next to me. I felt warmth and radiance exuding from her. She looked out to the horizon, with sharp green eyes that looked like they held wisdom unlike any other at her age.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she said softly. She exhaled. "I've spent decades at this place, just looking at this amazing thing that world has offered to me." She looked at me. "To us."

I replied to her. "How old are you exactly?" I knew that she wasn't the age that she looked. That must be another upside of magic. Surely this wasn't just a little girl that was all alone in the woods, bringing strange people into her cave of a home.

She smiled, giggling quietly and cocking her head. "A hundred and eighteen."

She said it so sweetly and casually, as if answering if she wanted some candy, that the shock hit me even more. My jaw dropped, my brain reciprocating with an intelligent "Wha-?"

Giggling once more, she said, "What's your name?"

I doubt the girl wanted to talk about her age, since she changed the subject so quickly. I recovered from the initial shock of the 'pre-teen' in front of me being older than most of the giant trees around us and wracked my brain for a name. Or anything, any smidge of identity.

Then an image flashed in front of my eyes. It was of the giant godlike being that I had seen earlier in my dream. I had almost forgotten the galactic vision that I had experienced in my sleep. It seemed so strange that I had thought it hadn't even happened.

"Aiyum." I replied. "My name is Aiyum Staul."

As I said it, I could feel the power in my voice. Confidence. Like I was meant to tell the world who I was, and there was something to be surrounding that name. As I thought about it more and more, the better I felt about my situation.

"What kind of a name is Aiyum?" she said playfully. She hopped up and started walking around. She went up to a tree with a low-hanging branch and grasped it, trying to climb it. She was struggling to pull herself upwards. I thought it was funny to watch her try and get up, flailing her legs with the effort. Even with magic she couldn't compensate for lack of upper body strength. I got up, dusted the seat of my pants off from the grainy rock, and went over to help her get up.

Standing at the base of the tree, I looked at her and said, "Need some help?"

She turned around from her grappling with the tree and said, "No, I wanna do it myself!" She took one hand off of the limb and pointed it to the ground. A green, glowing circle appeared with markings, similar to the circles that appeared in front of my eyes earlier when she granted me vision. It was about a foot in radius, and had a strange sort of calligraphy on it that intertwined with the shape of the circle, and a symbol of a tree in the center of it. I got out of the way of whatever she was doing. As the circle quickly vanished, the earth that she was pointing to shot a green light, followed by a root sprouting from the surface, giving her a boost up to the limb. The root sank back into the ground that closed up behind it. She sat down on the bark-covered branch, swaying her feet playfully.

"That's what magic is, " she said, smiling. "And I'm gonna teach it to you. I'm Mavis, by the way. Mavis Vermillion."


	7. Chapter 7:Life on Tenrou

**Hello, all! I am pleased in the growth of the followers, and I hope I can continue to bring you guys more and more material. I hope you enjoy this new direction the story has been heading in. If you enjoy, a follow is much appreciated. It's how I see the reception of the story. Until next Wednesday!**

Mavis wasted no time in starting my training. That very moment that she introduced herself, she hopped down from the branch she was resting on and went over to the white boulder that I had been observing the view from. Her walk was unique; she sort of pranced around, a walk that I would expect a child to do. But I knew that she was much older than her age. She must have retained all of her childlike demeanors, though.

She started running her hand over the white rock, collecting the dust from it on her index finger. She looked over her shoulder. "Well come on!"

I walked over, slowly. I was confused on exactly what she was doing.

Peering over her shoulder, I saw her drawing on a piece of earth that was flat and had no grass. It was a black piece of shale, and the grains of the lighter rock acted as chalk.

She had drawn a circle, much like the ones that had appeared earlier when she used magic. As she inscribed the circle, she spoke to me. "Magic is in all things. The very concept of life is derived from it. Everything you see, from the grass, to the mountains, to the streams, is filled with magic energy. Wizards channel that energy into tangible forms through magic circles. Like this."

She had finished her masterpiece, an intricate overlay of symbols and letters of a language that I didn't know. The circle began to rotate and glow, the white chalk becoming ever whiter. Suddenly, it leaped up off of the rock and hovered above it, set free from its anchored position. It shot a beam of light onto the rock and vanished.

The ground below our feet began to shake and crack, as if the earth itself was moving. A hand made completely of stones, bound by green magic energy. The rest of the creature pulled itself up, covered in moss and dirt, with glowing green eyes. I stood, awestruck, as it held its stance in front of Mavis, waiting expectantly for something.

She snapped her fingers, and the summoned creature toppled into a pile of large boulders that sank back into the ground. "That was a golem," she said. "They can be made of all natural things." She leaned in close to me and whispered, "But it's forbidden magic, so don't use it in front of other people, kay?"

I nodded. There was so much to learn, but I could tell that time was my ally here.

X...X...X

Over the next few years, Mavis and I stayed together in the vast wilderness, never straying too far from the cave unless she took me off somewhere for a training mission.

I usually had free reign on how far I went; Mavis never really cared what I did in my free time all that much, as long as I didn't die. I came to find that I was actually on an island, named Tenrou Island. The boundaries were never clearly set, as the island was constantly changing in landscape and geography. It warped due to Mavis' whims, her life force tied to the island. However she saw fit, the island would work itself so that it suited our needs. There was always someplace new to explore, some new magic to try out.

But once every year, for about a week, Mavis would shut me up inside the cave. I never knew why she did it, but whenever I asked, she said it was because I wasn't ready yet. Every year, that week was full of noises. I knew the origin of those noises had to be magic, but other than that, I was completely blind. In more than just vision.

Every day was different with our training. I would get up early, with the rising sun, and walk out into the yard, to the one white rock that had served as my first lesson. I took some of the chalk and conjured up a circle in the air, that produced mixed berries and nuts in my hands. Breakfast.

After I had observed the start of the day, and the dew had been mostly evaporated from the grass, I woke up my tutor and we would engage in our training. We would go somewhere different every day, a different part of the island, to work a different kind of magic.

I took to conjuring spells like a fish to water. I guess it's expected since I had already been a wizard before I had lost my memory. Every time I worked magic, I felt like I was on the edge of figuring out who my old self was. It was exciting, but also terrifying. I loved the island, and life was so simple on it.

In the winters, the island would freeze over, transforming into a beautiful wonderland of snow and ice. Every day, Mavis pestered me to wear less and less clothing in the cold, to 'become one with the element'. It got to the point to where all I had on were boxers.

"Why am I doing this again?" I asked her, shivering. My lips were purple.

She scoffed. "It's an ancient training technique for Ice-Make wizards. Now, gimme a dragon!"

I grunted as I slammed my hands together, power erupting from the giant clap of my fists. A light blue circle appeared, and a giant behemoth of ice materialized, in the form of a reptilian beast, the size of the island.

She smiled. "We're getting there."

X...X...X

The rest of the training followed suit to the ice conditioning. I would go out, in the harsh elements, and train for hours on end in every field of magic. From withstanding fire, to blocking lightning from the top of the Tenrou Tree, I learned magic from the original source: nature. Mavis kept me working hard, and was a strict but kind teacher. She was always pushing me to my limit.

And then, there was a day that things changed. It was the week that I had to stay inside, shut off from the rest of the island. This year, the explosions had been even worse. I had been on the island for about three years, and my magic power had greatly improved. In the reflections in ponds and streams, I appeared to be about twenty or twenty-one.

Mavis had disappeared once the sounds of destruction had become worse. She told me to stay within the cave, although I knew that I could help her in whatever predicament she (or the island) was in. I had sat, alone in the cave, for about an hour as the earth shuddered beneath my feet.

I got up from my bed, where I had been resting and drawing in my journal. I couldn't just stand by while I heard my teacher and my home get destroyed. I made my way to the entrance of the cave, and the ground gyrated beneath me. I struggled to maintain balance, grabbing the grass-laden cave wall. I rushed outside to see what was going on. When I did, I was horrified.

Mavis had told me they didn't exist anymore. They had gone off to some other world and were never likely to return. Especially here, of all places. I did the only thing I could do. I took off running.

There had been different spells that were shot at it to slow it down as I was making my way to it, but it was basic magic; nothing that had the firepower to destroy a beast of this magnitude. I came upon a praying Mavis, chanting in some old, unknown language that was lost on me. I looked down and saw a slough of people on the light-colored rocks. Half of the forest had been torn down, no doubt by the monster in the sky.

"Mavis!" I said. "We've gotta help them! They have no chance against a dragon!"

She said nothing back to me, she just continued with her chant. I rushed past her, running to help those who were opposing the black and blue reptile that was tormenting the island. As I was about to enter the fray, a slate of rock shot up in front of me. A wall.

Mavis had finished her prayer. She was next to my side. "You weren't supposed to see this," she said. "You aren't ready yet."

I was confused and hurt that she thought I couldn't help save a few people's lives. "Mavis, that thing will _destroy_ Tenrou. This is our home! And those wizards' lives aren't anything to be trifled with either!"

She sighed. "I assure you, the island is safe, and so are their lives. I just cast a protection spell over the entire isle. No matter what that thing shoots at us, we'll be able to continue our training." She turned, heading back to the cave as a giant old man wrestled with the dragon.

"I can beat it. You know I can. Let me help them. This thing should have never even looked at Tenrou. It should pay for destroying the forest."

She turned around in anger. "You know nothing!" Her expression made her look older and more intimidating than her usual innocent appearance. "We cannot interfere! I can't break my promise!"

"Promise? What promise?"

"Nothing. Just, please come back home, we have _a lot_ more to get done if you ever want to get off of this island."

I exhaled in exasperation. I waited a moment to reply. "Okay." I said, following my master, as well as my friend back to our hovel. I looked back to the battle, and after a brilliant flash of blue light, the dragon was gone, leaving only blue skies and destruction. I saw a faint border of magic power encompassing the island, forming a dome over the Great Tree and the rest of the forest. I wasn't sure what had happened to those wizards, or who they were, but I could tell I didn't really want to know.

We resumed my training, working even harder than the three years previous to the event. I knew Mavis didn't want me looking too far into the dragon, but despite her efforts, my curiosity was only fostered by this restriction. I went off into the wild as often as I could, to try and find any clues as to what happened that day.

Every time I went out, though, the island shifted itself so that I could never find any traces to who or what was here, on the island. Life continued on as usual, with the exception of occasionally seeing the magic dome that encapsulated the sky.

I also noticed that my body had halted its progression. Sure, my magic improved over the following years, but my body stayed the same, which wasn't a bad thing. I was in good condition, with a youthful build and a cut physique. My hair had stopped growing, even on my face. There had to be some correlation between this phenomenon and the spell that Mavis had cast.

Years passed. I had been on Tenrou for eight years now. I couldn't feel my age, but my experience greatly advanced further. It had been about five years since the dragon incident, and it was almost out of my memory completely. I had become proficient in many forms of magic. I had conquered the 'basic' arts in my first few years. (Mavis called elemental magic basic, because it was what all further spells were derived from.) At the time, she was tutoring me in golem magic, along with other forms of lost magic.

She commented often on how easy it was that train me, because somehow I had learned all of this before I lost my memory. I often contemplated that, because when I woke up at Tenrou, I couldn't have been more than eighteen. It wasn't possible for someone that young to know and master all this magic and still survive. Mavis only knew all she did because she had over a hundred years to learn, as well as discovering some ultimate source of knowledge, one that she still didn't reveal to me. I was always befuddled when I thought of it.

Another night sticks out in my memory more than even that day with the other wizards. I had been out late after a training session. Mavis was holding up the fort back at the cave, most likely making dinner for me or communing with the island in some way or another.

I was hiking near the Tenrou Tree. It was springtime and the giant tree had produced beautiful white blossoms that glowed a bluish light whenever it got dark.

I could hear an April storm brewing off in the west, a foreboding breeze rushing in quickly, a preview to the coming rainfall. Two glowing blossom petals fell from the grand tree and down to the ground, next to my aching feet. I picked them up and examined them. An idea came to mind.

I went over to a flat, nearby boulder. Large rocks were never too far, it was one of the many advantages of Tenrou. I laid one petal down on the shelf of stone, and crumpled the second one in my hand, making a thin, glowing paste. I used the paste to draw a magic circle around the first petal, that was still intact. Symbols that were at first lost on me were now second nature to draw and interpret. When I had finished it, I invoked the power coming from the petal, as well as the mashed up one, to transform the combination into a golem.

The circle lifted the blossom up in the air, and flashed for a second, and dimmed to reveal a cute, sprite-like creature laying on the rock. It radiated light just as the bloom did, with the exception of its eyes, which were black. It looked inherently feline, with long, sharp ears. It was undeniably the cutest thing I had ever seen.

It looked up at me and blinked, cocking its head in expectation. I picked him up and placed him on my shoulders. He was about the size of a rabbit. He clung to my tattered wizard robe with ease.

I looked up to him. He looked right back. "I think I'll call you Rin."

He blinked again. I didn't know what it meant, so I just assumed it was in acceptance of his new name. And just like that, I had a sidekick.

I had just resumed my hike, along with my new friend, a sound of sheer destruction came from above. At first I thought it was just a roll of thunder from the incoming storm, but after a the crash came a noise that I had only heard once before. A noise that I swore I would never let live.

"Come on, Rin," I said to the mouse-like golem that clung to my shoulder. "This is lesson number one for you."

I jumped onto the Tenrou Tree and started climbing as quickly as I could, using athleticism magic to maneuver up the trunk as quickly as possible. It was difficult to navigate the twisting branches, especially in the dark, although the luminescent leaves on the tree lit my way enough for me to get up without too many problems.

I was at the pinnacle of the arboreal giant in a matter of minutes, overlooking all of Tenrou island. I could see my mountain hovel, which still was below the top of the grand tree. But my goal wasn't to return back to my master. Not just yet.

Looking up to the spell that protected the island, overarching all that I knew, I materialized my mismatched wings using transformation magic. One was an angel wing, the other stolen from a demon.

As I jetted upwards, I could feel fat raindrops start to fall on my face. It was Mavis. She controlled everything on the island, from its geography all the way to it's weather. I had the feeling that she knew what I was up to. I didn't care. This was too important. I looked down to our hovel, that we had spent eight years in together, training.

"I'm sorry Mavis," I said, flapping my wings further into the lightning-emblazoned sky.

I approached the dome around the sky. It was usually nearly invisible to me, but now it was very apparent to my eyes. It had an orange tint of magic power, bearing an insignia identical to the one that I always saw on my face, over my left eye. Fairy magic. I had never been taught such magic, and whenever I asked Mavis about it, she always said that I wasn't ready yet. It always perturbed me that although I had mastered high forms of magic, and even most Lost Magic, I was restricted from learning this form of light magic. (I could tell it was derived from light magic due to the orange glow.)

I shook off the thought, my mind returning to the task at hand. I synthesized a Negation magic circle and blew a hole in Mavis' protection spell. I flew through the opening, terrified of what was in front of me.

The spell had been protecting the island for the majority of the storm. As soon as I got out of the dome, the rain hit me in sheets, propelled by gale-force winds. I flapped my wings frantically, desperately trying to prevent myself from getting blown away. Rin retreated into my cloak, wrapping his long tail around my chest and holding on for dear life. I could barely breathe; the rain was so thick that it was literally drowning me in midair.

But that wasn't the worst of it. As I fought against the tempest, I saw the silhouette of a dark winged behemoth, outlined by the cracks of lightning that occurred in rapid fire around us.

The dark clouds churned in the background as I, an ant in comparison, opposed this beast. I had seen it before. Those scales looked familiar. All black, with accents of blue shooting up and down his limbs and torso. The lightning still erratically casting light upon his glistening hide, I saw the blue-eyed beast turn it's head. Straight towards me.

Life seemed to slow down as his gaze shifted. The rain felt like it was dropping in reduced gravity, and the lightning flashes felt as if they lasted for a longer time. I felt my heart thump in my chest, my body supplementing my lost courage with adrenaline. My fingers twitched and my stomach did backflips. This was the first time in eight years I felt truly… _afraid._

When this dragon had been attacking the wizards, which were still unknown to me, I was completely intent on fighting back. At that moment, I was confident that I could deter the beast with relative ease. That was five years ago. Five years of intense training. And now, being alone with such a massive, and imposing presence, my arrogance was shattered.

A bluer bolt streaked past the sky, temporarily slurring my vision of the monster. I shielded my eyes, even though I was only seeing through a spell. I looked back, and it was gone. In it's place stood a man, but this was no improvement. I could tell that this was the same monster, just in a separate body.

He had tan skin and light hair, coupled with blue markings that matched that of the dragon that had just vanished, further justifying my assumption. His hair was wild and untamed, his eyes shining cruelly through all of the chaos of the monsoon.

The most disturbing thing about this man in front of me was that we looked so alike. Sure, we had acute differences, especially since I didn't even know what my eyes looked like, but for the most part, we looked like we could have been brothers. He had the same build as me (tall and cut), but seemed to be a bit taller than me, further intensifying his form. Our skin tones, along with our locks of hair, were in striking accordance.

I yelled over the whistling wind. "Who are you? And what do you want with this island?"

I saw a smirk befall his face. "Nice try, One," he called back. "Don't think you can fool me with your little charade." His voice was sharp and cruel, as if the sound of steel scraping against stone was compacted into a voice. I shuddered.

My brow furrowed. "Charade? What are you talking about?"

"Haha! I see! After all this time, I finally find you, and yet you hide behind tricks. Well, they'll serve you no good here, One." He licked his lips. "This is the only time we will have to fight. And then, I will take your place! You will feel the wrath of Acnologia!"

"Look, buddy, I think you've made a mist-ACK!" My sentence was cut off by my effort of dodged his attack. I looked up, seeing that the man in front of me had transformed back into his reptilian state, and was shooting beams of highly concentrated magic down at me.

They rocketed past, going either into the tossing waves or Mavis' spell, which was weakening with every blow it took.

"You've got the wrong guy!" I called, flying away from his volleys of energy. "I have no idea who this One guy is!"

I dodged attack after ruthless attack. It carried on for at least ten minutes, and I was using up every bit of magic energy I had just to get away from him. Looking down at Tenrou, I didn't think that it could handle being berated like this much longer. My attacker was radiating something that I had never felt before. It felt like...evil. Pure evil.

The attacks subsided after a short while. I didn't know if this dragon, or sorceror, whichever, was getting tired or just planning a new strategy. I didn't think he was giving up, though. I head a high pitched humming from the back of his throat, which I could only assume was him gearing up for another attack.

I couldn't move any more. It was all I could do to flap my two wings, and not fall out of the sky. My vision went in and out, seeing the world around me in strobe. I had no idea that any magic could do this to a person. And I hadn't even launched a single attack. My heart pounded. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I was too afraid to even do that.

The wait was over. The high pitched humming had intensified, and now was overpowering my ears. A blue ray shot from the black beast's throat, and headed straight towards my body. I knew it would kill me on impact. But I couldn't do anything. I was petrified by fear and fatigue.

And then, something clicked. I have no idea how, but it felt as if a couple cogs meshed in my mind, running freely and fluently. I saw the beam, still shooting at me, but I was revitalized by my newfound discovery. I had recovered some tidbit from my past, and it would save my life.

"Enough!" I yelled, thrusting my arms up. Magic circles appeared in a spectrum of colors, ranging in every color that I could think of. The blast was deflected easily, dissipating quickly. I felt my body burn with intensity. "You come to my home, and threaten my life. Now you must pay." I thrusted my hands to the sky. "Dragon Slayer Legendary Art: Galaxull!"

The circles glowed, and even I don't know what happened after that. My body was shot backwards by the eruption of magic power that I had controlled. As I fell back down to Tenrou, my vision went black as the sky was lit ablaze by the power of Galaxull.


	8. Chapter 8: The Single Step

I awoke. But not really.

As I regained my consciousness, I wasn't in my usual home on Tenrou. I wasn't even lying down. In an upright position, I was swathed in energy, revitalizing my battered body.

Looking around, I found that I was in a place that I had been before. In a vision, eight years ago. Completely invading my vision, the universe stretched out in front of me; all of existence, just laid out for my personal viewing. I looked around for the being that I had communicated in my dream all those years ago, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Where are you?" I called, my voice carrying throughout the abyss. "I have some questions for you!"

The stars and planets warped, producing the God that had appeared before me back when I had been given my second chance. He stood there, looking at me expectantly. But said nothing.

"You're not human, are you?" I asked.

He nodded, his two mismatched eyes shining through innate darkness. I blinked, and as I did, I saw a new form, one more massive than the first. It was a dragon, one with brown scales and a gray underbelly, but his eyes stayed constant: one gold, one purple, both glimmering with intensity.

"What's your name?" I said.

The dragon did not open his mouth, but merely adjusted his posture, so that he stood up straighter. He closed his eyes, and as he did, a voice was projected into my mind. It was warm and welcoming, although something told me that it could turn in an instant.

' _I have gone by many names over the millennia,'_ The voice said. ' _Humans have called me The One, The Creator, and many just referred to me as God. But I have a true name. One that very few have come to know.'_

"What is it?"

' _It is not for humans to know. But seeing as you are my son, I shall tell you. It means slope, an ever-increasing slope that man should travel, going upwards to a goal that will improve them, but will never be achieved. My name. My name is Talus.'_

My senses dulled and exploded at the same time once his name reached my ears. Existence itself seemed to fade and brighten with the very mention of it.

"Your son? How am I the son of a God?" I said, confused.

' _I found you when you were but a babe,'_ he replied, affirming that I wasn't an actual deity. ' _I had been amongst the humans at that time, in this form. Observing.'_ The dragon shifted its position, as if it was trying to remember things. ' _The other dragons had followed my lead, when I adopted you. I insisted that it was important for the lost art of Slayer Magic to be rekindled within our youth. You were the beginning of that process.'_

"So that's why I was able to do that spell." I exclaimed in realization. "Because I had learned it before."

' _I taught you all magic within our first years. Mavis aided me in retrieving the bond that you once had with magic. She brought you back to who you truly were before.'_

"Before what?!" I asked. "What was so important that I lost my entire knowledge of life, of you?!"

' _Your mission must continue. Tenrou has little left for you now, you must go forth onto your journey as soon as you awaken. If not, the island, along with Mavis, will be destroyed.'_

"But Tenrou is my home!"

' _I am sorry my son, but this is too important to take risks. You must go forth, as was intended_. _Only then may your home be safe.'_

The dream around me was fading quickly. Darkness was invading my vision, blotting out the stars. My father was getting farther and farther away, only his two eyes were visible, now only specs of light.

' _Remember your purpose,'_ he said in conclusion, his voice trailing off as the dream collapsed.

X...X...X

"I have to leave," I said to Mavis, not wasting a moment of time after I had woken up from my audience with my 'father', Talus. My head pounding, I stumbled around the cave for my few belongings, fumbling them into my leather backpack.

"Why?" she asked, not understanding why I was in such a rush. I didn't have time to explain. I had to get away from Tenrou, from my teacher, in order to save them from Talus' reckoning.

"No time," I replied, tightening the straps on my bag. "Come on Rin," I said to my pet light spirit, extending my arm for him to climb on. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, knowing the wrath that would be bestowed upon the place I love if I didn't get myself back on track for my 'mission'.

Once I had my bag slung over my shoulder, I headed out, trying to avoid a heartfelt goodbye with the girl that I had spent the last eight years with. As I reached the entrance, though, I felt a small pair of hands grip my hand.

"Wait!" the young girl said. I looked back at her. Her eyes were large and wavering. I knew she wanted answers. I knew she didn't want the only person that she had to leave her. "You need to tell me what's going on! You still have more to learn, here!"

"I don't have time, Mavis! Don't you see?" My voice was raised, out of desperation and compassion towards her. "I met with him. My father. Tal-"

"Don't speak his name," she interjected. "It's not for mortal ears. I may not be alive, but I'm not on that level. You can never tell that to another person. It's for you and you only. Just speaking his name could destroy even the wisest and most worthy minds."

I stood above her significantly in height, even though I hadn't aged in the past five years. I crouched down on one knee, putting our eyes near the same level. I placed my hand on her petite shoulder. "I understand. And I don't want to leave. But I have to. If I don't, he'll destroy this place. No amount of magic can save it."

"I understand," she said back to me. "And you have grown strong, my student. Stronger than I could ever hope to be. And I can see you are to grow stronger still." Her demeanor was less of a child now, and more of an ancient master. She was showing her true age now. She reached down into a fold of her dress, producing a sharp and slender tooth, about as long as her palm. "You fell from the sky, and this was with you." She gave it to me. "It's a dragon's tooth. One from the Black Dragon Acnologia. Your true nature must have surfaced once you faced him."

"I'm sorry I can't stay. You know I love this place, and I love you, but it's not safe if I do."

She embraced me, hopping into my arms. At first I was taken aback, but then I hugged her right back. "Take care, little sister."

We remained there for a few seconds, until she pushed back and hustled out of our embrace. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" she sprinted out of the cave and into the center of our courtyard. I followed to see her drawing a magic circle in the dirt and invoking it. She looked at me as the circle was glowing a radiant gold. "It's my last gift to you. But it's for emergencies only!"

As she said that, my entire left arm started to burn, from my skin to my bone.

X...X...X

I was on the open sea now, upon a craft that I had designed myself. An ice board was below my feet, with a large pole sticking up the center of it where I had placed a sail, which I turned to change direction. I used wind magic to propel the entire craft forward. I had created it once before, and Mavis had said that it reminded her of something called 'windsurfing' back in the land of Fiore, the land that she was from, and the place I was destined to go.

But first, I had to battle with the churning sea. The storm last night had lingered, turning the sea rampant and black, the waves tossing and crashing. I could have flown over had it been a decent day, but the wind blew in such a high force that I wouldn't be able to get ten feet above the water. Plus that magic usage can be taxing when you're going over an entire ocean.

Thankfully, the wind was on my side, so I didn't have to sacrifice much magic power to power the windsurfer. All I had to do was hang on for dear life and pray to Talus that I wouldn't encounter a massive wave.

I looked back to Tenrou, the island still in sight amidst the calamity of the storm. I saw the grand Tenrou Tree, a friend that I had gazed upon for years, slip out of sight. I knew that I wouldn't see that giant for a long time. I despaired.

' _It had nothing left to give you,'_ said Talus' voice, echoing in my thoughts.

"It's bad enough that you've invaded my dreams," I screamed out into the storm. "But stay out of my head Talus!"

As I said his name, it seemed as if the storm around me rippled, like a sonic wave sent the rain and the waves and the wind back. All nature bowed to the name of my father. I resolved that his name should not be used so lightly. If something living was around when I said that, then- My thought was interrupted by something plummeting down from the sky, hitting the semi-calmed sea. As I passed it, I saw that it was a seagull, bleeding from the eyes and ears.

"So this is the power of a name," I thought aloud. "I see."

I resumed my journey. I still had a long way to go.


	9. Chapter 9: Later

My way was lost in the next two years. I don't remember much of it. Not much at all.

What I do remember is hazy, like trying to think back to my life before Tenrou and Mavis. Only I didn't lose the memories of my ventures within the world of Fiore. Subconsciously, I think I'm blocking the memories from surfacing again. Out of anger. And out of shame. I did things I am not proud of. Dark things.

It all began one fateful day, when I was riding the railways of the countryside. I was down on my luck; although I could conjure food easily, I was wandering aimlessly from town to town, in search of my great 'purpose' that Talus had in store for me.

I had my head down, staring at the oaky railroad ties as I roamed onwards, waiting for a train to stow away on. I looked up and around. I was in the Great Plains of Fiore, the agricultural center of the nation. The soil was rich and cultivated here, but barren in respect to human life. Other than Rin to keep me company, the occasional farmer was the only other non-plant organism around.

The landscape was too flat. And hot. Although it was becoming fall here in Fiore, an unusual heat spell had overcome the land, and there were no trees to block out the punishing sunlight. I missed my home on Tenrou. There, at least shade was plentiful and rivers and the ocean were there if you ever needed to cool off. The plains are so far inland I'd have to travel a thousand miles either way to get to the beach. But I couldn't go back there. For some reason, I had been drawn here, to this place, by my father. I still had no idea what the One's plans for me were, but I had to keep pressing on.

I had departed Tenrou six months ago. I could still picture my beautiful island, with the creatures stirring all around and the sea glistening in the distance, the sound of waves crashing down forever in the background. I could really feel the magic there, and how strong it was. In the modern world, magic is buried so deep within civilization that I have to claw my way past the layers of suppression to force it out of it's natural elements. Here, in a rural setting, it's not so difficult, but in the cities, it saddens me to see how far away humanity has strayed from it's original state, leaning so heavily on the crutches of civilization and technology and in turn softening their wits and the value of the natural world.

It wasn't all bad, though. On my travels I had discovered pockets of sustained magical and natural forces. There would be the occasional unaltered stream or forest, where civilization hadn't made it's way yet. I tried to spend most of my time in those pockets, and regain my sense of place. To reconnect with Tenrou in any way I could, no matter how small. I'd be there for a few days, set up a makeshift hovel, until Talus prompted me to leave through my thoughts. I found a pattern within that, and decided I couldn't risk staying in one place for too long; I couldn't jeopardize the island like that.

So I kept moving. I had been following the rails for a couple of months, hopping onto moving freights as they went along to their destinations. Most of the time they took me to big train stations in large cities, and I tried to get out of them as soon as possible. I didn't know what was waiting for me where I was headed, but my father had no problem with my route. I resolved to keep heading east, to follow the sunrise each day.

I looked up from the railroad ties. I heard something in the distance, amidst the blowing wind and the rustling of crops swaying in it. I looked over my shoulder. A train was coming. Rubble on the ties started to bounce up and down, the rails shaking from the impeding metallic giant rolling towards me.

I reached down to my belt, grasping a two-foot rod of black metal, bent at the tip to make a hook. Attached to it was a three-foot chain and a leather forearm harness to attach it to my body. My Hopper's Crook. It was a tool used by every experienced tramp and hobo that aligned themselves with the railroads, to catch a rushing train more easily. I tried to keep my magic use on the down-low around other people, because I'm not sure how they would react to a guy sprouting wings and trying to grab on to their vehicle. It may not be legal, but at least it isn't scary for the crew.

The steam engine was coming forwards rapidly. I turned to Rin, who was on my shoulder. "Better hop inside, buddy. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." I opened up my jacket and he clung to my chest and wrapped his tail around my torso for security.

Once Rin was secure, I knelt down and pressed buttons on the bottoms of my boots. On each one, an inch-long knife sprouted from the toes. I attached the forearm brace of my Hopper's Crook to my left arm, and started off running the same direction of the train. I sprinted, gaining more and more speed, using some athleticism magic to increase it to superhuman levels.

The train was up on my right now. I saw the engine rush past, and I let a few boxcars pass before I started looking for an opportunity to board. Then, I saw my chance. I hurled my Crook at a handle outside of a boxcar door, and was hurled off of my feet. I was dangling by the chain, hooked onto the handle by only the Crook. I grabbed the chain with my free arm, fighting against the wind pushing me backwards, trying not to think about the land rushing past. Gritting my teeth, I kicked both of my feet into the side of the car, driving the knives attached to my toes into the metal wall. My cloak and my hair were ripping back and forth in the wind. I felt Rin clinging on desperately. He was nervous, but I was no stranger to train hopping. Grunting, I pulled one foot out and stepped up towards the handle, and replanted the knife. I repeated this process, slowly making my way to the handle. I grabbed it, and pulled off the Crook, latching it back to my belt. I heaved my entire body up on top of the car, landing on my back immediately to rest.

I looked up, and saw that the sun had set, and the night stars had started to emerge. Rin came out of my cloak and turned his head. I was still panting, but he made a noise at me, a high-pitched howl, notifying me to a threat. I immediately shot up, and looked to where Rin was looking.

"Don't get up on my account," he said, looking down. He was dressed in ragged clothes, grungy and torn. I saw a Hopper's Crook at his side and the same retractable boot-tip knives I had equipped to his footwear. This guy definitely knew what he was doing. He had relatively pale skin, black hair, and black eyes. A silver pendant hung from around his neck. In front of him, a magic flamed burned on the top of the car, without any wood to fuel it. There was a can of beans suspended in midair. He looked up at me. "I'm just passing through, same as you."

I relaxed, but not completely. If my time on the rails has taught me anything, it's that you can't fully trust anyone you meet. I should know. If I needed something from a town or another person, I'd swipe it when they weren't looking. That's how I got my hopping gear. That's how anyone got their hopping gear. "You're a wizard?" I asked.

"You are too, by the looks of it." He responded. "Not just anyone can go around blindfolded and hop trains. I'm guessing you have a vision spell over that cloth."

I was impressed. He was observant. Smart, too. He could be an ally.

I spat off the side of the car. "What's your name, stranger?" I asked.

Raising his hand and levitating the can away from the flames, he responded.

"Rus," he said. He passed the can over to me with a smile. "Care for some dinner, Aiyum?"

X...X...X

I closed the archive journal and sighed. I couldn't let them know about all of the horrible things that happened those two years. It changed me. Molded me. And destroyed me. And I had the marks to prove it.

I looked up from the leather bound book that I had been writing in for the last week on our journey back to Magnolia. I was sitting in the padded leather of a train car, speeding across the Fiore countryside. Our booth was packed; situating me along with five other wizards and three Exceeds. Rin was still in my jacket, but I decided that they didn't need to know about him just yet.

I had been quiet once I had saved the group from that reptilian imbecile Bora, using the word 'save' loosely. I didn't so much as reclaim other lives as I did relinquish one. I kept thinking about it. How I couldn't use the restraint that I swore that I would keep. I followed a pattern of promising myself to never take another life, then going into a situation where I would convince myself that my opponent is better off dead. It's the curse of being The Renegade.

It had been a strange experience for me once I had met the Fairy Tail wizards. Mavis always told me that I was destined to go back to the Fairy Tail guild, and that it's the place I belong, but I felt overwhelmed when one of my previous guildmates broke down and started crying when she saw my face. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to run away or stay at that point. I think the girl's name was Mira. I spoke little to her, as well as the others. They did enough talking on their own. The pink-haired kid was always running his mouth about something, and the blonde was in constant battle with the blue Exceed. I felt more comfortable with the surly black-haired Dragon Slayer; he only interjected when he saw fit. That's the kind of talk that I was used to.

The three slayers had become more quiet on the train though. All were slouched over, moaning and clutching their stomachs. Their faces had a green tint to them. _Motion sickness?_ I thought. _What are the odds of all three of them having motion sickness?_

The loudmouthed blonde one talked to me. "How are you not sick Aiyum?" she gestured to the three wizards on the verge of puking. "I saw you use Dragon Slayer Magic, but a slayer of your caliber should get sick the moment he gets on a vehicle. What gives?"

The hothead added in between dry heaves. "Yeah, what's your secre-blugh!" He keeled over his own words and fell onto the floor.

Blackhair stepped in. Out of the three he seemed the most collected, trying to suppress the sickness. "Can't you see he doesn't want to talk to us," he growled, gritting his teeth. "Let him be."

"Shut up Gajeel," blondie said. She turned back to me. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but let's see how far you've gotten in the story for the archives."

She reached for the book in my hands, but I pulled it away from her grasp. I spoke up. "I'm not finished," I said. It was the second thing I had said to them other than nods and affirmative grunts.

Her eyes widened at my hostile tone, but then calmed down. "I understand. You're afraid that you aren't a good writer." She leaned in close to my ear. "Don't worry, I don't let anyone read my novels either."

"Yeah cuz they're bad!"

"Natsu, shut up!" she turned to the firebreather and landed a kick square on his jaw, stopping him mid-laugh. Not even motion sickness stopped him from getting in the occasional quip.

He whimpered and rolled around on the ground, clutching the impact zone of the kick. "Agh Lucy you know pain makes motion sickness worse!"

I raised my eyebrows as I observed the interesting spectacle unfolding before me. The two were obviously in love, but I doubted either of them knew it yet. I looked over to the white-haired woman, who was looking out the window at the gray sky. Rain started to drizzle down on the plains landscape, pattering against the window.

She hadn't talked to me at all once I had revealed that I didn't recognize any of them. It was strange, because she seemed like the one that had been the most happy to see me alive. After studying the situation for a while, I concluded that I had known her in my past life, before I had woken up on Tenrou. We must have been close from the way she acted.

I kept contemplating this, and assessing how difficult this entire venture would be. I hated trying to remember things from my past life. I had thrown all that away in my days of travel. It all started with-

My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion towards the front of the train. We all turned our heads to the sound, even the sick Dragon Slayers.

"What was that?" The blonde-I mean Lucy, said.

I stood up and fastened my hopper's crook onto my arm. I still had it after the years of hell I went through. It turns out to be a pretty sufficient weapon if it comes down to it. I needed to restrain my magic, at least for the time being. I didn't want to kill anymore people. And it could have just been a boiler malfunction. There was no reason to get worked up over an accident. I started to open the door to go check out the carnage, when a wizard dressed in black robes and a facemask flung it completely open.

"Get back inside!" He growled, attempting to shove me back into the seats. As he lunged to strike, I caught his arm at the wrist and twisted his arm, causing him to scream in agony.

The others were shocked by my action. I ignored them, I needed to nip this conflict in the bud. I brought him out into the hallway and closed the door so the others wouldn't see me. I leaned in close to his ear, and placed my Hopper's Crook around his neck. "Tell me who you are," I whispered. "And you get to keep your life." I tightened the crook around his neck and chuckled. "I know it's not worth much, but it's something."

He whimpered, tripping over his words. His tone was a lot different now. "We-we're part of a Dark Guild!" He was trying to keep himself together. "Please don't kill me!" he cried. "I'll give you anything!"

"Dark Guild, huh?" I slammed his head against the wall. "Where are you friends?!" I screamed. Blood started trickling down from his head.

"Th-They're up at the engine! We're here to take the train! I swear that's all I know! Please!"

I smiled. "I believe you." I threw his head to the wall one more time, knocking him out. Hopefully. I didn't really care. I started off in the direction of the engine, but someone grabbed my arm.

I turned around and saw two big blue eyes. Mirajane. "What are you going to do?"

I looked down to her. She seemed very familiar, but I still couldn't place her in my past. "I'm going to stop this." I shoved my arm out of her grasp, turned around, and walked over the body that I had dropped.

"What happened to you when you were away!?" she exclaimed.

I stopped. I took off my Acnologia-tooth earring and put it in my hand. "Requip!" I said. A blinding glow emanated from my palm, and I felt the weight shift. In the place of the earring was a katana, crafted from the dragon's tooth. I looked back at her.

"A lot." I responded. I whirled around and got ready for the upcoming fight.


	10. Chapter 10: Magnolia

**Hello all! I know, I know. I've been slacking off these past couple months. I'm really sorry about that. In my defense, I had no free time from November until now. But hey, I'm back, and better than ever! I'm ready to start cranking this stuff out weekly for you guys! I hope you enjoy, and if you do, please leave a follow or a review! Become part of the family! I'll see you guys next week sometime!**

I had used this blade more times than I'd care to remember. I had learned how to use it right after I had met Rus. That man, that...force of nature, is the reason I am the way I am. But he's also the reason I'm still alive. He's saved my life more than I can count. I have mixed feelings about him.

I shook off the thoughts. It was time to concentrate. I flicked my wrist back and forth, the katana slicing through the air. With every swipe, I increased my magic power. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. With every exhale, I accessed another origin of magic power, breaking down the barriers that my body had put up when I was growing up. I had twenty origins that I had unlocked thus far, and was on my way to open up more, but it's time consuming and I was on the move as of late.

I opened my eyes and stopped. I was about three cars away from the engine. It seemed like a suitable distance. I put my katana in an inverted position, having the blade go backwards so it stuck out behind me. I crouched down and put my free hand on the ground, like a sprinter gearing up for a race. I saw other passengers ogling at me, wondering what I was doing. I smirked. They were in for a show.

I gritted my teeth as I exuded magic power, channeling it all in the form of concentrated sparks coming from my heels. I saw a orangish red flare of light from the spell. I shot forward at Mach speeds, putting the butt of my sword in front of me. With the sheer force that I had, I pummeled through the iron doors separating the cars with ease.

I reached the engine room and halted my speed by putting my hopper's crook on the busted door frame. My legs flung upwards, conveniently kicking into one of the dark wizards and knocking him out cold.

I planted my feet and surveyed the room. There were about seven wizards, all draped in black and navy robes bearing a symbol on the arm. They looked uneasy after I had accidentally taken out their comrade. I used this fear to my advantage. "Who are you?! And what do you want with this train?!"

Silence.

"I see. So it's going to be like that then. Fair enough." I raked my hand through the air, cloaking the entire room in complete darkness. My vision spell couldn't even see through it. Luckily, I learned to shift between that spell and my natural aura-vision that I had before Mavis changed it.

I looked around the car, seeing numerous purple auras, fading with every passing second. I smiled. I was in their heads. With fear comes the blocking of magic power. And these single-origined wizards didn't have much to begin with. I quickly made my way around the room, taking them down halfheartedly. I didn't even need to give them my full attention; they were basically defeating themselves. Within seconds, all but one of them had been dropped to the floor. I cleared the darkness spell and recast the vision spell over my eyes.

I sauntered over to the conscious one and trapped him by the collar of his robe. I looked into his eyes. I saw terror in them. "Now," I said quietly as I dusted off his shirt. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

All I got was a series of frightened whimpers. I frowned. I released him and paced around the room. "Well that's a pity." I looked back at him and readied my sword. "For you." I lunged, my blade headed straight for his neck. I closed my eyes, disregarding the kill I was about to make. But just as my blow was about to connect, something stopped it. My eyes shot open. A hulk of a man appeared in front of me, calmly holding back the dragon toothed katana with his palm. I recognized him. From his bulbous muscles, to his flowing white locks, the man standing in between me and the dark Mage was my father. His eyes shone brightly. The gold and purple voids were unmistakeable.

He said nothing, just shook his head in disapproval. He took the blade in his hands and firmly pressed his palm against it, condensing it back down into my earring and giving it back toe. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.

I blinked, and the sword was back in my hands again. It was like Talus had never been there. But I looked down at my foe. He had not been struck down. My blade had never fallen. I was still pressing down with all my might, but I had not been able to end the job.

Because between my weapon and my would-be victim was a boy. A boy with spiky pink hair and a fiery passion in his eyes. I saw veins popping out of his forehead as he resisted the Acnologia katana.

He was in a crouched position, with his forearms crossed to shield his face. Sparks shot out from his skin where the edge of my sword was being blocked, rebounding it just enough to keep it from cutting him.

Through gritted teeth, he spoke. I could tell he was struggling. "I know you're angry." He said, wincing in between grunts. "But killing isn't the answer. You had friends once. I remember you. You were infallible. Impossible to beat. You were who I strived to be. When you disappeared, so did my chances of beating you."

I was taken aback by this fire breather's boldness. I didn't even know him and he was already talking about trying to take me down. It must have just been the way that he was. But still, even though he radiated arrogance, he had a good nature to him that shone past his flaws.

The cloaked man behind him scurried away in fright, grateful to be able to flee with his life. I decided I would let him live; it was better for him to strike fear in the hearts of his comrades anyways. At least that's what I told myself.

The dragonslayer spoke once more. "Please," he said. "Come back to us. I know that Mira needs someone right now. And you used to be that someone. We're your friends, Aiyum. Let us show you." He looked over to the heap of mostly dead bodies that laid on the floor. "Because this… this killing has to stop. That's not what being in Fairy Tail is about. Like it or not, you have the mark, plain as day on your face. You have to represent it."

My eyebrows raised as I admired his dedication and kindness. Here was someone who didn't necessarily have all the power, but the resolve and the will to stay true to what he believed in. His friends. And his guild.

 _He is not unlike you were,_ said Talus, his booming voice ringing in my head.

I smirked and sheathed my sword, re-clipping the tooth to my ear. I held out my hand to the boy on the floor. He grinned and grasped it as I hoisted him up. "Thank you," I told him. "It's Natsu, isn't it?"

X...X...X

Magnolia. I knew that name. It was a sound that rang in my ears, so that the time I heard it again, a strand in my brain twinged, as if reawakening some old part of my past, so far long forgotten and piled underneath waves of shit from the past two years.

I shuddered and shook off the thoughts. I had left that. I needed to forget The Renegade. I wasn't him anymore. I wasn't a killer. I was turning over a new leaf, to try and do some good for once. Real good.

I stepped off of the steel boxcar and onto the paved train platform with my new guildmates. The three dragonslayers were extremely glad to be back onto stable ground, their Exceeds dragging their lifeless but smiling bodies into the station. I chuckled to myself as I watched and wondered why I didn't have that same problem. I was, first and foremost, a Dragon Slayer.

In my travels, I had been referred to as many as The One Dragon Slayer. It was the only magic that I hadn't been taught, at least not in this life. I'm sure Talus had given me that knowledge when I was quite young, but Mavis had never been able to reteach it to me. It just flowed naturally out of me, like water from a stream. It was a never ending learning experience; I was constantly discovering new skills and ways to increase my power.

"Come on Aiyum!" called a chipper white-haired wizard. It was Mirajane. After my incident on the train, I had restored the captured vehicle to the engineers and apologized to her. It took a little while, but she eventually came around. It was a long train ride, so it gave her enough time to forgive me for telling her off and gallivanting to go and kill a bunch of dark wizards.

Following our reconciliation, Mira and I had had a long talk about my past. I had tried to remember who exactly she was, but I still couldn't place her significance in my past. It was frustrating, too, like a splinter that is stuck underneath the skin. No matter how hard I try, or how painful it is, I can't remove it. I can't bring it to light.

Fortunately, Mirajane knew exactly who I was before I had lost my memory. I was her ex-partner, in addition to her best friend. Apparently I had been some sort of badass too, because I was able to take out full-fledged wizards without using any magic. At that mention, I became quite sullen. I wished I could use that kind of restraint now. But I can't.

Anyways, I had essentially been caught up on my history: I was a member of the Fairy Tail guild, a wizard's guild in Magnolia, Fiore. I was partnered to Mirajane Strauss and had completed the S-Class trial when I was shot but some sort of strange adversary, which resulted in my "death." And that was the last they saw of me. I had disintegrated into a million black particles of dust, and blown away in the wind. It was mind-boggling to say the least.

We were in Magnolia now, heading back to the guild hall. Our hearty party of six, as well as the Exceeds flying overhead (and Rin on my shoulder), were making our way through the city, the fall colors bursting overhead like natural fireworks.

My stomach churned in anxiety. I hadn't seen these people in over ten years. What if they thought that I knew who they were? What if I couldn't handle it? What if-

"Come on, slowpoke!" Mirajane teased, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward. "People are going to want to see you! This will be the party of the year!"

I looked at her hand in mine. She couldn't see my gaze, obviously, but suddenly, my anxiety was gone.

My mind trailed off once again. _What if...?_

Screw it. I didn't care. I was going home. For the first time in a decade.


	11. Chapter 11: Home

My heart raced as I stood before the broad, oaken doors of the guild hall. I wasn't as much anxious as I was excited. Maybe after seeing all these faces, old memories would reallocate within my mind. I really wished that that would happen.

I stood in the back of our little pack, petting Rin, who was resting on my right shoulder. Natsu placed his hand on the door and turned back at me with a grin. "Ya ready?" he asked devilishly. I looked around to the faces of my new friends- Natsu, Wendy, Lucy, Gajeel, Mira, Happy, Lilly, and Carla- and felt warmth. A warmth that had not been felt in far too long. I scuffed my feet on the gray brick below my feet and then turned to him.

"Yeah." I said. "Let's do this."

Natsu then, unexpectedly bowed his head and full-on kicked the the heavy doors wide open, yelling as he did.

"ALRIGHT CHUMPS!" he screamed at the hundreds of drunken mages in the guild hall. "WE'RE BACK FROM OUR JOB, SO IT'S TIME TO FIGHT!" Flames shot out of his mouth and fists as he cried out, generating more and more ruckus from the crowd.

He made his way in, the roaring echoes of everyone's voices meshing into a cacophony of sound that had an undeniable merriment to it. There was laughter, fighting, and even singing. The rest of the group followed in Natsu's path of destruction, apologizing for him as they went.

A young, half-naked wizard with black hair had confronted the enraged Natsu, and within a few words they were in a full-scale brawl. I watched them tumbling around on the floor, and my lips curled into an unintended smile.

 _So this is what it's like here,_ I thought.

I just realized that I hadn't made my way through the door yet. It was dark outside, so the rest of the guild hadn't seen me yet. Silently, I slipped from the door frame, and the doors magically slammed behind me, sending a thunderous boom throughout the large building. I sighed. So much for keeping a low profile.

As I took a couple steps, I noticed that the dull symphony of voices had stopped. Even the fighting, that had been up to twenty wizards when I stepped in, had stopped. I looked around and gulped. Jaws were hanging open, and eyes were glazed over from staring. The only sound being made was by Natsu, who was grappling at the same shirtless wizard as before, being held back by an armored redhead who also had eyes locked on me.

I kept walking. My throat had tightened up from embarrassment, and I tried to keep my composure as my boots quietly thudded against the hardwood floor. When I was about halfway to the bar, I heard an old, scratchy voice rise above the silence. "Listen up!" He cried hoarsely. "I want all the S-Class wizards and _this_ one-" -he pointed to me- "in my office in five seconds!"

X...X...X

We were all gathered around in the small office that the little but loud man had called us into. There were six of us in total, all centered around a simple wooden table, the white-haired man sitting down at it. The group consisted of Mirajane, the redhead that was trying to keep Natsu from fighting, and two muscular, tall wizards: one with spiky blonde hair & the other with flowing orange locks. And every single one of them had their gaze transfixed on me.

I can't lie; I was intimidated. I knew that I could definitely hold my own in a fight, but these people weren't just strong with fighting. Their resolve radiated throughout the entire room. Not to mention they were physically dominative. The two male wizards were easily over six foot five. I'm a pretty tall guy, but these two were like gods. And they were built. Like _really_ built. I'd bet they were over 230 lbs each of pure muscle, without a doubt .

And I already knew the power that Mirajane had packed in her arsenal. She had told me all about her Satan-Soul transformations on the train. I looked over to her, and her usual pleasant demeanor had shifted to a much more solemn one.

And I looked at the final person in the room. Her gaze burned a hole through me. She had a quiet intensity about her that I could relate to. She seemed like she meant business. I looked at her a bit further. I knew her… but from where?

" _Titania,"_ echoed Talus' voice in my head.

My eyes widened. The Queen of the Fairies. My thoughts started to run rampant. These weren't just some officers in the Fairy Tail guild- these were _the_ wizards. Fairy Tail being the strongest guild, and these being its strongest members, meant that I was surrounded by five of the greatest mages in all of Fiore. My eyes darted around the room, instantly putting epithets to faces. The She-Demon. The Lightning Dragon.

The Ace of Fairy Tail.

I stood in realization of whom I was with, while the old man spoke up. "So," he growled. "The Renegade himself graces us with his divine presence."

I was confused. Had I met this man before? What had I done to make him so mad at me? Before I could ask him any questions, he opened his mouth again.

"It's been ten years, Aiyum. So let me ask you something." he looked down at the table, then back up at me. "How do still look like you're in your early twenties?"

My expression of awe dissipated as he pried. My jaw tightened as I looked down at him.

"I think you know," I responded.

He close his eyes and held his fingers up to his temple, trying to contemplate what I told him. "So you were asleep this entire time," he said. "Trapped in the Fairy Sphere, just like all of us." He gestured around to the other wizards. Come to think of it, I had seen their faces on Tenrou before; they were the ones who were fighting Acnologia.

Titania interjected with her own question. Her deep voice commanded the room. "But if you were stuck in the Fairy Sphere, that still leaves a three year gap between your disappearance and when the spell was cast. Why didn't you try and get off of Tenrou and back to the guild?"

I sighed. I could tell that this wasn't going to be all that easy to explain. I reached into my ratty, old overcoat and pulled out the leather bound journal that I had been writing in, trying to recall all of my memories from Tenrou. I threw it on the old man's desk. "Everything you want to know about my days on the island are in there," I said. "But let me tell you- I was never asleep for more than a night at that place. Fairy Sphere didn't put me to sleep like it did you." I grimaced. "Every day I spent on that island, I spent doing two things: trying to regain my memory, and training to become the strongest wizard in existence."

They all looked a little puzzled, trying to swallow all the information that I had just thrown at them. The Lightning Dragon spoke up.

"But if you lost your memory, how could you have known what magic was in the first place?" he asked.

"I had a teacher." I responded.

"A teacher?" The Ace asked. "Who?"

I exhaled. "Mavis Vermillion. The first master of Fairy Tail. As well as my father, the One Dragon."

X...X...X

I had done my best to explain my situation to the officers of Fairy Tail, but I still saw them suspended in disbelief when I concluded my tales of my time spent on Tenrou. Anxiously, I looked over to Titania. She had her index finger pressed into her temple, trying to contemplate all that had unfolded before her. I could tell she was thinking hard from a vein protruding from her head.

She spoke up once she had gathered her thoughts. "If what you're saying is true," she turned. "Then why did we never find you in the yearly trials? There were three S-Class trials that happened when you were on Tenrou. Why didn't you come and seek us out?"

"I was shut off from the world whenever a trial was taking place. Mavis told me to stay inside; that I wasn't ready."

"And you just followed that blindly?" she replied.

"She was my Master, and the only one that I had known up to that point. I had no reason to distrust her. And you shouldn't either, Titania. Isn't she Master to all of us?" I said back.

There was silence in the room. I had a point. Mavis was the head honcho. The one in charge. She knew more magic and history than anyone in the guild, and had by far the biggest heart. Just thinking of her made me yearn to return to Tenrou. There was too much darkness here.

 _No,_ Talus said in my head. _You are exactly where you need to be._

As his voice echoed through my head, I contemplated what he would actually do if I just went back. Lost in thought, I didn't even realize when they were calling my name.

"Aiyum?" Mira asked, trying to regain my attention.

My head snapped back into the present. "Sorry," I said. "It's just a lot to take in, all this change in scenery and all."

The little old man sitting in the desk looked slightly annoyed, but repeated his question. "You said you were on Tenrou for around eight years, but you've been gone for ten. that leaves two to three years unaccounted for," he said in a rough tone. He looked up at me. "I suspect I know what that time was used for, but I hope I'm wrong. But I'm not, am I?"

I looked down in shame. "No," I answered. "I am who you say I am."

He reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a wanted poster. He read it aloud. "The Renegade. A brutal master of every form of magic that has mercilessly slain countless dark guilds. Has never been seen, never been challenged, and never been escaped from."

He rolled the parchment back up and replaced it in it's respective drawer. Uneasy gasps and glances filled the room. Even though these were S-Class wizards, they were troubled by my presence in the room with them. I clenched my jaw. That name had plagued me ever since I met Rus. I hated it to it's very core; it was an offense to me, as much as a reminder to the things I had done.

The guild master sighed. "Aiyum, you were once the pride of this guild. You did everything in your power to better your ability, and above all, you valued restraint. But now, after seeing this, I can't let you back into the guild. You've betrayed the ideals of this establishment and of morality as a whole. It would be unethical for me to welcome back a murderer with open arms."

Mira spoke up. "But Master Makarov-"

He cut her off with a collected tone and shaky voice. "Considering your past in the guild, and out of respect, we won't turn you in. But you must leave immediately. I'm sorry."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I understand. Thank you." I turned to the door, catching pained glimpses from my past comrades in the room. It was right thing to do, but that didn't make it easy. As I reached for the door handle to exit, the door flung open, racking me upside the head and sending me toppling backwards onto the floor.

"Oof!" I uttered intelligently as I lay on the floor, my heading pounding. When I looked back up, I saw a sight for sore eyes. It was my old master, Mavis. If my eyes weren't covered by a blindfold, then a tear might have rolled down my cheek. But this feeling didn't last long, as I saw the expression on her face. Other than Acnologia, she was the one thing that scared the bejeezus out of me.

At the top of her lungs, she yelled at the guild master. "What the HELL do you think you're doing Makarov?! What, is my pupil of eight years not GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?!"

The little man, once intimidating and commanding, shrunk in fear of the pint-sized demon that had appeared at his door. He tensed up as if he was expecting blows from her. "I-I'm sorry First Master! I thought you would approve! It seemed like the right thing to-"

She interrupted him with a voice that was entirely too big for her body. "THE RIGHT THING?! I BLEW EIGHT YEARS OF MY LIFE TEACHING THIS IDIOT TO DO MAGIC SO HE COULD REJOIN HERE, AND YOU AREN'T TAKING THIS MOMENT AWAY FROM ME!"

Everyone in the room, including Gildarts, cowered behind their tiny guild master, as if his tiny frame could offer some protection from the wrath of First Master.

Shakily, Makarov squeaked out, "Okay, okay! He's back in! Fully! I'll take your word for it! Just don't...hurt...us…"

In an instant, her fury shifted into a sunny disposition. A cute smile appeared on her face and a twinkle in her eye. "Thanks!" she said, cocking her head to one side. "And now," she continued, with another sinister tone. "I need the room with this one. We have some serious talking to do."

Nervously, they shuffled out of the room with a bunch of scared nods and "Yes First Master"s. Once they had all cleared out, Mavis calmly went to the door, closed it and turned the lock. Although I was happy to see her, I was also scared to death. I cringed in fear. She turned towards me, her hair casting an ominous shadow over her face. I gulped. I knew she was going to beat the crap out of me for all of my wrongdoings. This was bad.

 _This is it._ I thought. _This is my penance for those horrible things that I had done. I never should have_ -

Before I could finish my thought, a smiley, shrieking Mavis launched herself onto me for a tackle-hug that knocked me back onto the ground. "Aiyum!" She squealed in joy. She rubbed her face on my chest, like a dog that hadn't seen it's owner all day. "I'm SO glad I get to see you! It's been like three years! It's SO lonely on that island now that you're not there!" She laughed giddily as we were reunited.

Confused but relieved, I said, "But aren't you mad? All the things I've done? I've hurt so many people…"

She stood on her knees, still smiling and slapped my shoulder playfully. "Oh come on big brother! Those people deserved what you gave 'em! It's not like you were going around killing people willy nilly! They had it comin'!"

I was shocked and relieved by her attitude towards it. "Besides," she said, hugging me again, "You're still my little student." I looked down at her grinning face and hugged her back. She was what I needed. A friend that accepted me for who I was.

"Thank you, little sister." I said, cupping her small blonde head in my hand.


	12. Chapter 12: Anew

**Hey guys! Sorry I was a day late this week, but I was indisposed last night. Nevertheless, here's the new chapter! Thanks for all the support that you guys have given, and I thank you for your continued efforts to keep me writing. You have no idea how much it means to me. If you new readers like the chapter, throw a follow on there for me! Become part of the family! I treasure all followers! If you guys have any constructive criticism or suggestions for future events, leave a review or even PM me. Thanks, and I'll see you guys next week!**

After Mavis had secured my spot back in the guild, against Master Makarov's behest, we had been set up with a room upstairs that we could stay in for a few days until we got a job. It was that easy. I know that it wasn't exactly the right thing to get a higher power to command me back in, but I could tell that Makarov was relieved that he could welcome me back to the guild without the moral conflict residing solely on his shoulders. And now I was back in. Life returned to what I had known before my apparent 'death' during the S-Class Trials.

As I finished my reunion with Mavis, I got up from the floor that she had tackled me onto, brushed off my pants, and helped up my master. It was such a relief to see her and hold her close. She was one of the only things in this world that I truly loved. Having her back again, I felt like I was back to my old self, that I had reconnected with my roots. My precious little sister. Taking her little, pale hand in mine, I picked her up and flung her onto my back, her arms wrapping around my neck.

"Ready to go and see everyone? At least for a little bit?" I asked over my shoulder.

She nodded, smiling. I walked over to the door, turned the knob, and opened the door into the giant mess hall with hundreds of murmuring wizards. As I walked out of Makarov's office, every head turned to me in silence. I gulped. I was anxious, but I remembered the tiny wizard on my back, and I wasn't scared anymore. Whatever happened, I would still have her.

Breaching the silence, Natsu came up to me, grinning from ear to ear. He slapped my shoulder and turned to the guild hall. He spoke up so that everyone could hear him.

"Now listen up! This here is my good friend Aiyum! He was here a long time ago, and we all thought he was dead. But he's back, and better than ever!" He looked at me, smiling once again, and then turned back. "So let's party!" He yelled, throwing his fists in the air.

He was met by a large roar from the tipsy mages, who then started chugging their beverages as to further inebriate themselves. Realizing something, Natsu shouted again, struggling to get the attention of the once-again rowdy crowd. "Wait wait wait! I forgot something!" He tried to shout, but the wizards were already in party mode. His attempts were useless.

But then Titania spoke up, raising her voice above the loud murmur of the room. "Silence, all of you!" she said, her voice carrying echoing throughout the large oaken room. We were once again met with complete silence. I guess people were so scared of her that they didn't dare cross her. She gestured to Natsu once more.

"Thank you Erza," he said politely. He shouted once more to the crowd. "Okay chumps! One thing I forgot to mention! Aiyum doesn't have all his memories anymore. Seems like they were erased or something, so if you knew him before, don't be all hurt if he doesn't recognize you! Now let's fight!" He started off sprinting into a mass of people, erupting into a massive bar fight. I sighed. I guess that was just the way it was here.

Fiddle music filled the air as the fight picked up. Dodging miscellaneous spells and debris from the conflict Natsu had instigated, I made my way over to Erza, letting Mavis down off of my back. She grabbed onto my robes, wisely avoiding the fight.

"Thanks for that," I said. "I'm Aiyum, by the way. But I guess you already knew that." I smiled and tried to act as if my last two sentences weren't the stupidest things to ever come out of my mouth.

I was met by a composed and genial expression. "Think nothing of it. I was merely trying to make sure that you had a smooth transition back into the guild." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Erza. Erza Scarlett."

Shaking her hand, Mavis I followed her to a large table where my friends from the trip were waiting, with the exception of Natsu, who was still busy brawling. There were many faces I didn't know sitting there, all trying to speak to me, introducing themselves, and inquiring as to where I was for the past decade.

I could tell that everyone there wanted to know. I looked on their expectant faces and smiled. I was home. And surrounded by people that were ready to be there for me. For the first time since Tenrou, I felt… warm.

"I'll tell you guys all that you wanted to know. But first," I reached into my tattered overcoat and pulled out a heavy pouch of coins, throwing them on the table. "A round for the house!" Thunderous applause followed as numerous barmaids came out with platters full of pints. A merry woman in only a blue bra came over and slapped me on the back, obviously plastered.

"You're gonna fit in-hic-real good here!" she said groggily.

I sure hope so.

X...X...X

After the party, Mavis and I settled down for the night in our guild hall room. Rin, perched in the corner, gave off a little, bluish light that illuminated his part of the otherwise dark room.

My senses were dulled a bit. I had had a couple of beers, and I hadn't drank in at least a year. My immunity to it was all but gone, leaving me a little disoriented. I laid in my bed, staring at the dark ceiling. To my right, a slumbering Mavis was cuddled up next to me, laying her head on my shoulder. It was funny, watching her sleep. The immortal First Master of Fairy Tail wasn't all that menacing when her face was pressed into your arm with drool hanging out of her open mouth. I chuckled softly, patting her blonde head.

I smiled, realizing that I had left my days as the Renegade behind for good. I had turned a corner, and it was for the better. I had friends nearby, in a town that is beautiful, with Rin in the corner and this precious little mage breathing softly next to me. Inhaling deeply, then puffing out slowly, I thought to myself, _This is where I am meant to be._ I closed my eyes in my tipsy, euphoric state.

 _Yes,_ His voice said, ringing throughout my head.

X...X...X

The morning after being reunited with those that I used to (apparently) call friends, I went over to the job board to look for some employment options. When I did, I could feel the eyes upon me, people curious as to see what my first pick was going to be.

As I was perusing the board, lost in the sea of words and reward amounts, Mirajane came over to me with a smile on her face.

"Looking for a job?" she asked, cocking her head to the side with a grin.

I smiled back amiably, then turned back to the board. "Yep, trying to find one that's a good fit. But there's so much to choose from." I scratched my head, puzzled.

"Well I think you're looking at the wrong board. Here, look at this." She flipped the board over, revealing a whole other side, with black posters containing astronomical awards. "These are S-Class quests," she said. "They're inherently more dangerous than those other ones, so that's why they're only open to S-Class wizards, like you and me."

"Right," I replied in realization. "I forgot that you told me that before I… well, disappeared, that we passed the trials together. That's convenient."

I continued peering at the jobs, rubbing my chin in perplexity, but I could see her smile perk up. I saw that it made her happy that I remembered that.

"If you want, I could help you out with your first job," she said unexpectedly. "I know you probably don't need it, but it could be fun! Like old times! Well, for me anyways. Obviously you don't remember the good ol' days…"

I cut into her rambling. "Thanks, I think I actually will need it."

Looking at the jobs, I saw one old, tattered poster that looked like it had been there for decades. The ink was faded, and it was torn in numerous places, the corners curling inwards. As I put my hand over it to flatten it out, the parchment cracked, as if it hadn't been touched in years. And when I read it, I was overcome by shock.

"That's a 100-year job." Mira vocalized. It means that no one's completed it in over a hundred years. Crazy, right? Well, I guess it is to be expected, in regards to the target."

Not saying a word, I ripped the poster off of it's pins, and ignited it on fire. "Natsu," I said. The boy, turning his head from his breakfast table, had wide eyes. "Catch." I threw the flaming paper to him, and he, instinctively, jumped and swallowed the thing whole. I looked back to Mira. "No one should ever, _ever_ go after that… _thing_. It's evil incarnate. Nothing can stop it." I watched as Natsu chomped down on the flaming letters that read 'Acnologia.'

Mira was surprised. "Wait, you actually went after that thing before?!"

"Not exactly." I replied. "But I've had my run-ins with that despicable creation. The first time, I took a little bit of him," I gestured to my dragontooth earring, "and last time, he took a little bit of me." I showed her a large scar running down the left side of my face, all the way up into my blindfold, as well as a much larger one on my right arm, directly in the middle of the tricep. "I still can't fully use my arm without it hurting like hell."

"I'm sorry," she said, too stunned to reply with anything else.

I brushed it off. "It's all in the past," I answered, trying to break the tension in the conversation. "Now, let's try and find a good, dangerous quest that isn't facing a demon lizard!"

"Okay!" she replied.


	13. Chapter 13: Setting Forth

**Hey everyone! Here's this week's installment of Blind Power! Thanks for sticking with me through all this time, I'm glad that you guys find the effort to read my stories! Per usual, feel free to follow and favorite if you enjoy the piece! If there are any suggestions or questions that you have, don't hesitate to leave a review! Thanks and I'll see you guys next week!**

"Ugh, can we stop for a minute? My feet are killing me!" Mavis plopped down on the side of the road.

I looked back at her. "Mavis, if you could see my eyes, they're rolling right now. Come on, we haven't even gone that far."

She crossed her arms, pouting. "Well, _some_ of us didn't spend three years roaming all of Earth Land! Face it, we're just not as used to this as you are!"

My old master had a point. Even though she wasn't complaining, I knew that Mira was in need of a break too. She had slowed down her pace, and was shaking her feet every few steps. I knew what that meant. She was exhausted.

"Fine," I said. "We can stop for a _few_ minutes. Clear?"

Mavis stood at attention and saluted me cutely. "Crystal clear sir!" She then proceeded to plop down on the ground and hold her bare feet up in the air. I smiled inwardly as I watched her. She had become a lot less of a mentor to me recently and more of a sibling. I guess that's because I was like a child when I first came to the island, with no memory or recollection of who I was or what the world had in store for me. Even when I had been on Tenrou for years, I still was naive to the world outside of my safe little bubble. I was but a boy when I had left then.

But now, I was older. Weathered. I had seen things and done things that corrupted that innate goodness that was instilled in me when Mavis was training me. I probably had to have her as a tutor because of my innocence, because at that point, I hadn't done much to really defile my existence. Nowadays though, I seemed to have a darkness about me. Even though I had resolved to be a better person than I was, I can't fully wash the blood stains off of my hands that The Renegade had put there. That darkness made me more mature, and more keen to see someone like Mavis, who is so inherently innocent despite all the evil, and want to protect them. I guess I really was like an older brother to her in that sense.

I sat down next to Mira, who had taken off her hiking boots and was massaging her feet. I got a cracker out of my bag and fed it to Rin, who was perched on my shoulder.

"Blisters?" I asked casually to my partner.

She smiled at my comment. "Yeah, but I'll be fine. Just a little sore is all."

"Let me see, I bet I can help."

"Oh no it's okay. I'm fine, honest."

I gritted my teeth. Why were females always like this? I try to offer my help, try to be friendly, and then they're too nice to accept it. It was frustrating. Every single time.

Screw it. She needed my help, and by Talus she was going to get it.

I reached over and grabbed her leg by the ankle, hoisted it onto my lap, and peeled the sock off of her now raw feet.

"Aiyum, what are you doing?!" she blurted out, blushing. "I don't think this is really necessa-"

She winced in pain as I poked one of her blisters. Her pale, petite feet were covered with multiple large sores. "They're only gonna get worse if we don't do anything about them now," I responded, reaching into my bag for my medical kit. "I've seen this stuff a lot before, I know what I'm doing. Aha!" I had found my first aid kit in my bag! Perfect. I popped it open, and from it I took a tiny pin that could be used for sewing stitches.

Mira's eyes widened as she saw my tool. "Wh-what are you planning on using that for?!" she asked nervously.

I looked over to her and cracked an evil grin. "You're about to find out."

X...X...X

It was dark now. We had been hiking for a while, but after I had treated her feet, Mira seemed to be pushing through. The sun had set about thirty minutes ago, and the stars were starting to show their true potency.

Mavis had been complaining for the duration of the day, but had fallen asleep a couple hours ago. I held her, slung on top of my back. I didn't mind carrying her, though. She was light enough as it was, like a childlike angel. It was as if she had hollow bones or something. I knew she wasn't completely mortal, but I didn't know how that affected her physical form. I adjusted her on my shoulders, hiking her further up so she wouldn't fall off. She stirred slightly, but she was a pretty heavy sleeper. Drool dripped down from her tiny mouth and onto my battered brown overcoat. I smiled as we made our way along.

"We're almost to the town that our job is in," I said to Mira, who was walking alongside me, matching my stride. "We can stop there for the night."

"Good," she replied. "I'm ready to get into a nice warm bath and a cozy bed." She stretched her arms up into the sky.

I looked up, gazing upon the heavens, speckled in their celestial beauty. I stared upwards, thinking of my father, and how he was up above us all, watching over me. I hope that I was doing right by him. I know that he and I had our differences, but that didn't make him any less of my father. He took me in when I was a child, when I had no one else to turn to. He taught me magic and made me among the strongest wizards to ever live. I was the only mage to ever be trained by a literal god, and although it may not have been my decision, I looked back on it as a fortunate one. I never would have remet Mira, or even had contact with Mavis if it weren't for Him. And for that I was thankful.

"And you? Aiyum? Hellooo, are you listening?" Mira waved her hand in front of my face, which was kind of silly considering I did have a blindfold on.

I shook my head, recollecting my thoughts. "What? Yeah. Sorry Mira, I was just thinking about something."

She laughed softly. "I always wonder what goes on in that head of yours."

"Me too," I said a little too bitterly.

We walked in silence for a few minutes, when I heard Mira say, "Look! I see a village up ahead! Is that it?"

"Should be," I added. "Let's try and get to an inn real quick and get some rest, we've got a huge day tomorrow." She nodded in agreement.

We walked into town, our boots clodding atop the cobblestone roads. Lanterns were lit on the streets, casting out a yellowish orange light across the boulevards. We went from street to street, looking for an inn that we could hole up in for the night. After about fifteen minutes, we saw a large, oaken building that was two stories high. The sign out front read: _Moondance Inn: Wizards Welcome!_

"This looks as good as any other place," I said to my partner.

Too tired to respond, she just grunted in agreement, heading in the heavy door. As we walked into the lodge, warmth encapsulated us. The outside air had been cool once the sun had went down, and we were grateful for the blazing fire in the corner. There were three large brown leather chairs that surrounded the hearth, one of which was occupied by a woman that looked like was in her late fifties, with white hair and a simple navy blue dress on. She looked over to us but said nothing. Despite a passing gaze, I gave her no thought. We approached the check-in counter, where a man who looked about the same age as the woman in the corner was working, writing down numbers on a yellowed piece of paper.

As he looked up, I felt like I knew him. He had relatively short, silver hair, with a beard that was much whiter in color. His skin was tan, as if he tended a field every day in the baking sun, instead of working an inn. Despite being further along in years, he looked like he was pretty muscular, his shirt covering large shoulders and peaking biceps. His hands were large and had veins peaking out of them; if I hadn't seen him working behind a counter I would have thought that he was a farm hand or made a living doing manual labor. But the most striking feature about him was his eye color. I felt like they pierced me as they looked up into my face, their color akin to light shining upon finely cut steel.

"We need a room," I said, laying down a few thousand jewels. I still had Mavis asleep on my back, one of the wings from her hair poking me in the face. I blew it to get it out of my sight.

He took the money, replacing it with a key. "Wizards I see. You're here for the job no doubt." He stood up, taking our payment and placing it in a box on top of a dresser behind the counter. "Just a word of warning, most wizards who have attempted this job have died. Those who didn't never completed it."

"We're not most wizards." I replied. "Thanks for the key." I turned and headed back up the stairs to the room that I had paid for. Mira followed in my footsteps.

"We're sharing a room?" She asked nervously. "Isn't that a little strange?"

Not stopping, I said back to her, "You wanna pay for a second room? I'm running on chump change as it is. Don't worry, it's not like we're sharing a bed or anything."

"I guess not," she responded quietly as I unlocked our door. We walked into a small room with two twin sized beds and a bedside table in between. There was a small light that I turned on, casting a small luminance throughout the room. "Where's Mavis going to sleep?" Mira asked.

I set my little sister down on the closest bed, pulling the covers over her. She stirred but didn't wake, pressing her face happily into the pillow. I patted her head. "She sleeps with me. It's been that way for years. We're siblings after all."

Her eyes widened, but by this point she was used to being surprised by me. I took off my overcoat, throwing it in the corner along with my boots. Hopping on the bed, I laid above the cover and rested my head on my arm, staring at the ceiling. I heard Mira rummaging around in her pack, taking out a few things. She went into the small bathroom that was attached to the room, turning off the bedroom light as she left. I heard water running, light coming from a crack underneath the door. She must have been taking a bath.

I shook off the thought, scolding myself of thinking of a girl bathing. I continued to stare at the ceiling in the dark, letting my mind wander. I kept thinking of the innkeeper. There was something about him, the way he talked, the way he held himself, that felt extremely… familiar. Although I had never met the man before, something inside made me think that I had known him my whole life. I kept thinking about him for a good half hour, keeping myself awake until Mira got out of the bathroom in her nightgown. I heard her lay down on her bed, pulling the blankets over herself. Once she got settled, I spoke.

"Hey Mira?"

"Yeah?" She replied softly.

"Did you notice anything weird about that couple that was downstairs earlier?" I asked.

"Well yeah,"

"What was it?"

She propped herself up on her bed, looking over at me. I saw her silhouette in the dark. "Aiyum, they looked exactly like you," she said.


	14. Chapter 14:The Job

I was gently awoken by a ray of sunlight pouring in from the window across the room. The sun was just beginning to rise, the light shooting horizontally from the horizon, through the window, and right into my face.

With a graceful "Nuunnggggghhhh," I grabbed a pillow, burying my face in it to try and catch a few more minutes before I had to get up. On my left arm, Mavis was still comfortably nestled in the underneath the blankets, unconsciously clinging to me. She was warm and soft; a very comforting presence. I breathed in deeply as I attempted to achieve slumber once again.

After a few minutes of an unsuccessful venture to get back to sleep, I pulled the covers down and off of my torso and stretched my arms to the ceiling. I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth, seeing that I had left a substantial amount on my pillow. I wrinkled my nose. Looking across the room to the other bed, I could still see that Mirajane was asleep, the blankets on top of her rising and falling slowly with her breathing. Carefully trying to not wake Mavis, I pried her fingers off of my forearm and replaced them with a pillow. At first she seemed a little disoriented, but then wrapped her pale arms around it and fell back into a deeper snooze. I smiled at her and slid out of bed, fishing around in my green canvas pack for some deodorant and the room key.

I closed the door quietly and made my way downstairs, not having even attempted to tame my bedhead. God I hated mornings that I wasn't woken by the chirping of birds on Tenrou. I couldn't even concentrate until I had a large cup of coffee. Hanging onto the railing tightly, I made my way down the stairs, trying to fight through my drowsy stupor. I got down to the small lobby to find the same couple that had been tending the inn the night before. I looked to the man and nodded my head at him in a silent greeting, and made my way into one of the large leather chairs by the fire. The lady, who was who I assumed to be the wife of the man, was sitting there too. As I sat, she offered me a cup of tea from the green kettle that sat on the coffee table. I accepted.

Sitting and sipping my tea, I began to wake up slowly. I got to get a better look at these people that Mira said looked exactly like me. And, the more that I sat there, the more that I came to agree with her. They had features that looked akin to mine, from hair color all the way to skin tone.

"So," the woman said, breaching the silence. "You're going after the job that's here in town?"

I perked up, eager to start a conversation with these people that I was intrigued by. "Yeah," I replied simply. "I've been at Fairy Tail for a while now and just needed to start earning my keep. This job seemed like the right fit."

"The right fit?" She said in exasperation. She definitely thought that I was out of my league. "Honey, this job's been up for over a decade. Wizards from all over Fiore have tried, and failed, to do this job. Just how confident are you in your abilities?"

"Let's just say that I'm not all that worried." I responded quickly. And I was right to say so. I've taken down bigger foes than some "mystery creature" that's down in a pit somewhere in this town. It wouldn't be a problem.

"Arrogance can be a fatal flaw," she said kindly. If it came from someone else, I might be offended, but she had a very genial nature about her. She was warm and welcoming, like the fire that was across the room. Looking at her, she had very similar features to the man that was tending the counter. Tan skin, white hair, and pretty tall for a woman. She was beautiful, too. Although there were a couple wrinkles on her face, they only added grace to her attractiveness. She was definitely a head-turner back in her day. The only difference between the two were the eyes. Instead of light, steely-colored eyes, hers were a deep drown. They were dark and soft, the color of tree bark after a rainstorm.

But amidst all her beauty and kind words, I could tell that there resided great sadness behind those big, brown eyes. They both had a kind of quiet solace about them that added to their elegance. Although only innkeepers, they held themselves high, and radiated knowledge far greater than their mortal years could ever grant them.

"Are you married to that man over there?" I asked politely, gesturing to the man behind the counter.

She smiled. "Yes," she responded. "In fact, we'll be celebrating our thirty-year anniversary in January."

"Congratulations! Thirty years, that's a long time! Do you guys have any kids to celebrate with you?"

As soon as it left my mouth, I knew that I shouldn't have said it. Her smile disappeared as she blankly looked down at the floor. Her mouth had curled downwards into a scowl. "Children? Once, we had child." She looked up at me. "But after his second birthday, he was stolen from us. Disappeared, really."

My eyes widened. My heart pounded. "Do you have any idea what caused it?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "It was something long ago, that had disappeared from the world, and only existed in legend. It-"

She was cut off by a monstrous roar that came from outside. I turned my head to try and peer out the window, barely able to rip my ears away from the conversation.

A voice came from the other side of the room. "What was that?" I looked over to see Mira already dressed and ready, with Mavis behind her, still rubbing her eyes, half asleep.

Not knowing, I looked around to the innkeepers to see if they had the answer.

"That," the man said. "Is the job that you came all this way for. Remember, that one that you said you weren't worried about?"

X...X...X

Mavis, Mira, and I all stood on the edge of a pit, gazing down into a dark abyss. Deep, blood-curdling shrieks came from the darkness. I looked over to them, lips curled up into a smile. "Well, this looks promising."

Still staring down into the monster pit, they slowly turned their heads to me in unison, their mouths hanging open. Their expressions were saying, _Are you serious?_

I materialized my mismatched demon and angel wings, as well as requipping my earring into my katana. "Well," I said. "There's only one way to get down." And with that, I hopped off the edge, free falling down into the chasm of doom. As I dive-bombed downwards, the gradients of light on the canyon's wall became steadily darker, and I was soon enveloped by the shadows. Rin, who was on my shoulder (as always), cast off a faint bluish light the made us a target for whatever beast resided in this place.

But this darkness didn't feel… natural. I felt it. In its weight. This canyon was once a spout of natural magic power, but it had been clogged by these heavy shadows that polluted it's very existence. In an effort to dispel the poisonous shade, I channeled light magic into my katana, and spun around, casting light into the darkness that illuminated my surroundings, faintly clearing the cave but not making completely unscathed by the spell.

My illumination did let me see a bit of what was around me. Certain corners were still shrouded, but the sun was casting a harsh light down onto the orange and brown rock that was below my feet. Mira touched down beside me in her Satan-Soul form, carrying Mavis in her claw-like hands. We tensed up, ready for a fight. I knew that whatever was down here, we could take.

Something caught my eye. Out of the misconstrued fringes, I saw two figures emerge. There was a man and a woman, walking side by side. They were both tall and slender, with jet-black hair and matching sunglasses. Their strides matched exactly, coming forth in unison. They were each draped in emerald robes, flowing down to the ground seamlessly. They were...beautiful. No, that's not the word. Enchanting. Intoxicating. They had very sharp, chiseled features that added to the oddness of their appearance. They were humanoid, but definitely not human.

"Ssssso," the woman said. "It looksss like there'sss some more wizardss here for the job." She cracked a toothy grin, two fangs protruding from here smile.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "More snake people."

Mira glanced at me in partial amusement, thinking back to Bora.

"People?" The male said calmly, shockingly picking up on my remark. "Oh, we're not people, young one. Thiss is just the form we take when we introduce ourselves to lovely mages such as yourselvessss. You see, it's just easier on us to have your attention here, while our children come up behind."

Just as he finished his sentence, something slammed into my back. Hard. I looked up to see a large snake above me, green scales glinting in the sunlight. It had yellow eyes that pierced my vision, leaving me feeling cold. I had seen these things before. I had encountered them once before, in my days after Tenrou.

"Don't look them in the eye!" I called over to Mira and Mavis. "They're basilisks! Their gaze is lethal! If you have a staring contest with them, you're going down for a long nap!"

Mira nodded and looked down, summoning a protective orb of dark energy that started to sprout tendrils of purple magic towards our adversaries. And there were a lot. Everywhere I looked, I saw writhing bodies moving about the cavern, looking for an opening to strike. Looking back to the pair that had been talking before, I saw that they had disappeared, replaced by to behemoth snakes, with bodies the size of freight trains.

There were so many of them. This job was going to take some extra firepower. I looked on my shoulder to Rin. "It's time buddy," With that, my nymph friend glowed brightly, turning into pure light magic, and raced down my arm to form a blade of energy; formless, shapeless, and extremely powerful. Dual wielding my katana and my light sword, I charged the two super snakes, taking out dozens of the smaller ones along the way.

I can't lie, it was tough. These things were putting up much more of a fight than expected. Every attack that I gave, they either dodged or blocked, countering my every move in harmony with each other's movements. They were like Yin and Yang, complimenting each other's moves with their own and fighting ten steps ahead. I was beginning to break a sweat after fighting for a couple of minutes with these two behemoths.

I looked over to Mavis to see her fighting many of the lesser snakes, expertly taking them out with precision and accuracy. Her ability to look at the beast was impressive and fortunate, because without her, I would have been overrun. I was barely holding my own as it was. I blocked the snakes' teeth as they both gnashed at me ferociously.

"Enough of this dance," I growled through gritted teeth as I stared into two snapping, fanged mouths that were only restricted by my dual blades. Summoning all my strength, I pushed the pair back a few yards, enough to give me time to conjure a strong enough spell. Swaying my arms around in sequence, black energy exuded from my entire being. I looked at the two reptiles after I had accumulated enough magic, and thrust my hands forward, directing my magic into them. Their scales turned black as they shot upwards into the sky, thrashing in agony. I could hear their screams as they endured my torture magic. Their very nerves were being killed and reborn a million times over, just to make them feel the very pain that they had inflicted on so many other wizards. As they hit the ground, they wriggled back to the shadows, calling out to someone, or something.

" _It's him,"_ they said in weakened unison. " _The son of the god has come, Master."_

As I puzzled their call, I saw a powerful wave of clear magic burst out from where they must have been, radiating out into the atmosphere. It wasn't just a statement. It was a summoning. As smaller basilisks tore at my clothes, I readied myself for the true beast to show itself.

I tried to sweep off as many reptilian menaces as I could as I awaited the arrival of my opponents, but they were too quick and too numerous. Their small mouth ripped the seams of my jacket, and down into my navy shirt. Substantial holes were made, but my skin was never pierced. Since I was on a high magical level, I always had a layer of magic that protected me from harm from lesser beings such as these. I had only met one thing that had made a mark on me, in all my years.

And with that thought, from on high, came a bellowing roar that shook the heavens. A shadow engulfed the once-lit cavern as the basilisks' master came down from the sky. I knew exactly what it was, and I knew that I had to get us out of there as soon as possible. In a quick effort, I cast a teleportation spell out towards Mira, who still had her eyes closed in here magic sphere, putting her back in the inn.

And just in time, too. It had come crashing down. One of my only fears.

"Speak of the devil," I said, readying my swords.


	15. Chapter 15: Return

**Hello all!I'm back for another installment! Things have been going pretty well over here, so expect some more stuff in the future! Per usual, leave a review if you have something to say, as well as leaving a follow if you like! See ya next week!**

I had fought Acnologia twice before this. The first time was on Tenrou, where I barely escaped with my life, but at least I had taken the dragon down a couple notches. I thought that that had put us on relatively the same level, but boy was I wrong. Dead wrong. Turns out, I only got lucky that time. One Dragon Slayer Magic is strong, very strong in fact, but I don't think that even my magic could defend this place from the demon's wrath.

Since my father, the One Dragon, is in fact a god, that means that he is everything. He made all, therefore he is all. That carries through to the magic that he 'taught' me. (He never really taught me, One Dragon Slayer Magic is just instinctual. Just so you know that he didn't, God forbid, _spend time_ with me.) You see, One Dragon Slayer Magic uses every single type of dragon slayer magic in existence in combination, and then amplifies it to an extremely high degree. That's what gives it its power. No matter what foe is fought, if need be I can use this ultimate magic and, by the sheer amount of variety in every spell, will find the weakness of every opponent and blast them with so much magic power that they are eventually defeated or destroyed.

But Acnologia was different. There was no magic to counteract his being. He was the leviathan of the unknown, a dark magic that exuded evil and cruelty. I don't think that there was anything in existence to destroy him. I remembered all those years ago on Tenrou, when the strongest wizards in all of Fairy Tail tried to take him down, but to no avail. They barely even phased the beast.

And now he was here. Standing right in front of me. Dust had been thrown up all around from the impact of the reptile's landing, making visibility nearly impossible. I tried switching over to my aura vision, but my entire sight was overloaded by his magic power. I had no idea where he was. And then the dust settled. When I looked, I was a little surprised, but no less intimidated. Standing in the dragon's place was it's human form, a person that looked like me only scarier and more evil. He flashed a toothy grin at me, missing one single tooth.

He paced around casually, chuckling. "It's been a while, One. How long? Almost two years now, right?"

I tightened my grip on my swords, saying nothing, just readying myself for his inevitable attack. I had them down at my side, ready to slash up when he came for me.

"So it's going to be like that then. I was hoping that we could talk for a little while. Oh well."

In a flash, he was out from where he was standing and advancing towards me a breakneck speeds that I couldn't possibly match. He stuck his single right arm forward and slammed into me, clutching my neck and sending me flying back hundred of feet into the canyon wall. I dropped my swords on the ground at the site of the impact, helpless to defend myself. I tried to grab his arm, or anything for that matter, but my attempts were futile.

Pushed up against the wall, a muscular hand around my throat, I was utterly useless. He lifted me off of my feet and pushed me farther into the rock, pushing so hard he cracked the stone behind me. I could feel my esophagus collapsing under his stony grip, pressing my body with such force I could feel blood coming from the back of my head. I could feel my ribs popping in my chest like toothpicks. His eyes were crazy, intensely staring into my soul.

"Now One, you've avoided me for a long while. It's time for this game of cat and mouse to end. Permanently." He squeezed tighter on his chokehold. I gasped for breath that wouldn't come. My vision was going black. I could only see tunnel vision to my opponent, who was more of an executioner at this point.

Everything started to fade dark, for good. But then I thought of what I was fighting for. I saw Mavis' face. And Mira's. And Natsu's. Even Rus'.This wasn't it. Not yet. I wasn't going to be killed off again now that I had just returned to Fairy Tail.

In one desperate attempt to free myself, I stomped my left boot into the crag behind me, extending one of the boot-tip knives that I used to use for train hopping. I kicked upwards, into Acnologia's forearm. He howled in pain, releasing me and clutching his tattooed arm. Not wasting a second, I ran over to Mavis, who had still been too busy with the basilisks to even notice Acnologia. Not stopping, I scooped her up and cast a teleportation spell to get us up to the inn.

Mira was there, pleading desperately to the innkeepers to open the door. At the sight of Acnologia, they had shut every single shutter, window, and door in the entire inn, stacking up furniture in front of the entrances. In a brilliant flash of purple light, we were there, but not unscathed. Panting, still gasping for breath, I called out to her stretching out my hand. "We need to leave now," I said.

She nodded, complying with my command. She joined Mavis and I. "Hold onto me," I told her, wheezing. I think my windpipe had been damaged in struggle. I summoned what little strength I had left to summon a large teleportation circle that took us far away from the carnage.

We appeared in the guild hall instantly, strands of purple lightning shooting from the spell. The distance covered was so far that the intensity of the magic was amplified. As we hit the hardwood floor, heads turned to us. Especially me, who had clothes torn to shreds. But I didn't care. Exhausted and probably near death, I collapsed on the guild hall floor, going unconscious. In my last moments, I saw Mira and Mavis rush over to me in concern. Then everything went black.

X...X...X

As their blindfolded counterpart fell to his knees, then flat on his face, Mavis and Mira raced to his side to see what was wrong.

Mirajane, putting her hand on his bruised chest, tried to see if he was still breathing. She sat up in a fluster and cried out, "We need Wendy here, now!" She looked up across Aiyum's motionless body, and then over to his little sister, Mavis. Her eyes were watering but tears did not burst forth. She had a look of determination on her face, like she knew that Aiyum was going to be okay.

The crowd around them had parted, with a small, blue-haired wizard followed by an Exceed coming forth into the mix. She moved Mirajane aside and put her ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat. There was a moment of intense silence and tension, with the tiny wizard's head standing completely still, concentrating intently. She closed her eyes in attentiveness, until she sat straight up.

In her small voice, she squeaked, "He's alive, but he needs medical attention badly. His pulse is faint," she turned to Natsu. "It looks like he has several broken ribs and possibly a fractured skull and vertebrae." She looked around his head and saw crimson in his white hair, around the back. Blood. "Oh yeah, he's definitely got a head injury. Can you carry him up to his room where we can work on him?"

"You got it," he replied, wasting no time and hoisting up the unconscious warlock. "Let's go buddy." He raced up the stairs, followed by the crew of Mavis, Mira, and Wendy.

They set Aiyum down on the bed that he and Mavis had slept on for the previous few weeks, and Wendy cracked her knuckles, then radiating a bluish light from them. Her forehead beaded with sweat, trying desperately to heal the wizard. "It's not working!" She said in exasperation. "There's something blocking the magic!"

Hanging over Aiyum, Natsu suggested, "Maybe it's his clothes. If I had that much magic power, I'd probably be shredding my clothes every few days. Since anti-magic garments are rare, it would make sense that he patches them up and tries to keep them."

Mavis turned to him. "Good thinking Natsu. Let's take his shirt off."

Through a long-winded effort, the four of them were able to take off Aiyum's heavy, brown overcoat, as well as his patchy, navy-blue shirt. But when they did, they were taken by surprise. Over the course of his entire torso, there were a multitude of markings that stood out to them.

"Are those...tattoos?" Wendy asked.

"We can't worry about that now," Natsu replied. "Start healing him Wendy! We're running on borrowed time as it is!"

"Right!" She said, stretching her arms overtop the wounded mage. This attempt was more successful, as they saw ribs start to realign in their respective positions and his breathing became more deep and steady. Mira sighed in relief as she saw her friend revitalized by Wendy's magic.

As the little dragon slayer continued to heal him, the other three peered at the man's decorative chest and arms, trying to make sense of the markings. Upon closer inspection, they realised that these weren't just tattoos.

Mira's eyes widened, as she said, "Those are…"

"Guild marks," Mavis interjected. She put her hand underneath Aiyum's body, propping him up and looking at his back. "His back's covered with 'em too."

"There must be near twenty marks on here!" Natsu exclaimed. "You're not telling me he's a member of almost every guild in Fiore! And look, some of these are dark guilds! Phantom Lord, Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, even some I haven't seen before! Just who is this guy?"

"This _guy_ is my friend!" Mira said, defending the unconscious wizard in front of them. "He's yours too!"

"Okay, he's nice to us, but you have to agree that there's more mystery than man here. I mean, look at him Mira! I've barely even heard of some of these guilds! And what's this?" He said, looking down at Aiyum's left forearm. "This isn't even a guild mark, it's a spell."

"Fairy glitter." Mavis said. "I gave that to him, to use in emergencies. When he left Tenrou it was my last gift to him. Don't think that he stole it from us."

"Well at least there's one answer." Natsu said, sitting down on a chair. Wendy had still been silent, concentrating on her spell. "I think that when he comes to, we ask him about every single one of those marks. It doesn't sit well with me that our mark is on his body with the rest of those."

"Wait a minute, Natsu look at this!" Mira exclaimed, observing a muscular left shoulder. On it bore a circular emblem, resembling a sect of the Magic Council.

"Holy crap! He's a-a-"

The door slammed shut, cutting Natsu off. They looked over, but saw no one in the doorway. An annoyed grumble came from the ground. "I'm down here you twits." Makarov stood in the doorway, jaw clenched, a stern look on his face. "Yes, he is exactly what that mark says."

"But gramps, wouldn't that mean that you knew him? I mean, you guys are basically in the same club."

"Yes, we both worked in the same groups, but I never knew that it was Aiyum." Said the little man. "His showing up back here was as much of a surprise to me as it was to you. He was always distant at meetings, lurking in the shadows as often as he could. He was only there for about a year, until he disappeared mysteriously. At that time the other nine just called him The Renegade."

"But how?" Natsu exclaimed. "How could someone barely older than me become one? I don't understand."

"It's not always about age, kid. All it takes is power. That's how you become a Wizard Saint like him."


	16. Chapter 16: Remember

**Hey guys! Here's the next installment. Sorry it was a little later this week, but life's been kinda crazy lately. Anyways, here it is, you know the drill, follow, favorite, review, yadda yadda yadda. See you guys next week!**

My eyes fluttered open, slowly, but that didn't do much good. I was in a dark cellar, standing upright with my arms strung above my head by some purple code magic in the form of handcuffs. Some green light was radiating off of a couple of green lacrima that _Great,_ I thought. _I was captured and I didn't even know it. I have_ _got_ _to lay off the booze._

But I hadn't been drinking the night before. I wasn't out on the town, having a good night. That's right. My memory shifted back to before I had blacked out, to when Acnologia had his beast-like arm, clutched around my throat. I hung my head, still exhausted from the experience. I looked down, and noticed that I was shirtless, my multitude of guild marks exposed in the greenish luminescence. I had numerous bruises along my ribs, as well as a headache that felt like someone was hammering a chisel into the back of my skull.

"Ugh," I said intelligently. This was not a great start to the day. I tried shaking the magic bonds free from my wrists, and even tried a few spells, but this code-like magic was blocking my sorcery.

While I was trying to free myself from my bonds, I heard the cellar door open, and in came an armored figure, a shadow over their face. I was hanging upside down at the moment, my feet on the ceiling, trying to push myself down, to no avail.

I looked over to my shadowy captor. "Oh hey Erza," I said casually, not stopping my efforts to loosen the spell. I glanced back over to her. "Do you by chance have any coffee? I can't do anything until I've had my morning cup."

Unexpectedly, Titania grasped my shoulder and forcefully brought me down from my upside down position. She grabbed my jaw and looked straight into my eyes, or at least my blindfold. She was troubled, because she couldn't tell if I was intimidated or not, because she couldn't see my eyes.

I shook my head out of her stony grasp and spoke. "You know, the stare-down intimidation tactics don't really work with me. You know cause of the whole-" I gestured to my blindfold. "It was a good try though." I peered around her body. "Where's Mira? I feel like she would have something to say about all this."

In a stern voice, Erza replied, "Mira's not here now. Now, either you will tell me the answers that I seek, or I'll take that blindfold of yours off and you can see how intimidating I can really be."

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless you want the whole guild hall to explode."

"But how did you-"

"Come on Erza, I'm not stupid. Blind, remember?" Through cuffed hands, I pointed to my blindfold. "I can see magical auras through walls." Looking past her once more, I said, "And I can see that there is Makarov, Natsu, and Gildarts standing right outside that door over there. But as long you answer one question of mine, I have no problem answering whatever questions you might have."

She scowled. I bet that she underestimated what I could do even though I was locked up. She sat down in a chair that was near her side, and crossed her legs. "Alright, what's your question?"

"Why the hell am I locked up in here? I thought I was part of the guild. I hadn't done anything to harm it."

"It wasn't my call, Aiyum. But I did agree to help out with the investigation."

"Investigation of what?"

"Of _those_ , obviously!" She pointed to my body full of tattoos and guild marks alike. "Who exactly are you, Aiyum Staul?"

I sighed. I knew that this day would come. It was inevitable, really. I couldn't hide my body from them forever, no matter how hard I tried. And although I was accepted by them before, they probably didn't really know the extent of the shit that I had done over the years.

"Where should I start?" I asked.

"How about the beginning?" She suggested.

"It's easier if I let you see it for yourself. Go into my room, and in my bag there's a memory analyzer. Grab it, and come back down here. I'll let you know everything about the Renegade."

X...X...X

When Titania had returned, she brought with her a small company of the higher-ranked and closer Fairy Tail members: Gildarts, Laxus, Makarov, Mira, Natsu, and Lucy, as well as Mavis. She sat down the small metallic disk in front of me. Using my teeth, I untied a rag that was tied onto my right arm. (It was a long piece of cloth that was enchanted with healing magic that kept my wound from Acnologia from hurting all the time. It's a long story, but we'll get around to it one day.)

I tossed the rag over top of the memory analyzer, and a green sphere of magic energy caught it. Magic code flew throughout the the sphere, analyzing the memories that came with that small piece of ragged cloth. Lots of blood, sweat, and dirt had collected on that fabric over the years.

After a few moments, a green screen popped up, producing my memories from years past.

I was on top of a bustling train, and in front of me was a dark-haired man that knew my name offering me a can of beans that had been roasted over a magic fire. Rus. Remember him? Grungy clothes, silver pendant? No? It's okay. Now you know.

Anyways, we were speeding along the plains of Fiore on top of a locomotive, just munching on some crappy beans. I had Rin on my shoulder, and my hair was blowing in the wind. The night sky had just started to appear, the stars beginning their nightly display of brilliance.

"Where ya headed, Aiyum?" He asked genially.

I looked over, still a little confused. He was friendly enough, but I had no idea who this guy was or how in the hell he knew my name before I had even introduced myself. "Here and there," I responded. "Not exactly certain where I'm meant to be at the moment."

He layed down on his back, happily gazing up at the stars. "Hey, in my book that's the best kind of destination. The road is your home. No rules, no obligations, just freedom." He stuck his hand out to the heavens.

That really struck a chord in me. I decided that I liked this stranger. I liked his ideals. I laid down on my back as well, the cool top of the boxcar chilling my skin through my overcoat. "Where are you going, stranger?" I said, reciprocating his question.

He looked over. "Same as you. Here and there. Wherever the tracks take me."

I smiled slightly. "Mind if Rin and I hang around you for a while?"

A devilish grin came to his face. "So long as you get us some food every now and then."

I shook his hand. "It's a deal."

X...X...X

I awoke on the inside of a moving boxcar, the Pergrande landscape rushing past, bathed in the golden morning sun. I loved mornings on the tracks. I loved the feeling of being constantly moving, and being… _free_. It was an emotion that I hadn't felt since Tenrou. I took a deep breath and sat up, inadvertently waking Rin, who had been slumbering on my chest.

The little light golem hopped off of my torso and yawned, looking out onto the plains. I looked over to my friend, Rus, who was slumped over in the corner, shrouded by the shadows.

I had thought that he was asleep, but then his voice came from his corner. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," I responded. "That cliff jumping yesterday really wore me out."

It had been about three weeks since that night when Rus and I had met on the top of that train, and we had become like brothers in even that short time. We spent our days doing what we felt like, not a care in the world. Talus had been quiet for the duration of our time together, so I guess I wasn't doing anything bad on his terms. Between us we shared a map of the entire continent of Earth Land, with its respective network of railways that ran through, like veins pumping blood and life into it.

"So what do we want to do today?" I asked him, flattening out the map onto the dusty floor. "There's some pretty good fishing over here," I pointed to a lake that was on our route. "But we could also go and scale some of those titan trees that are in this forest over here." I turned to my friend. "I bet you I could beat you in a race," I said with a sly grin.

He returned the smile. "In your dreams. You're on!"

"Then it's settled," I said, standing up and looking out onto the rapidly passing landscape. "We're headed to The Forest of Collosen!" Rin scurried up my back and clung onto my side, while Rus put his hand on my shoulder in comradery.

"But first, breakfast!" He said, holding his stomach. "Let's try and nab some food while we can, we're about to pass a forest after all!"

"Rus my friend, I like the way you think."

We both hopped out from the inside of the boxcar and up to it's roof, staring at the tracks ahead. Past the engine, there was a large forest that was teeming with life and trees, trees of which we were hoping had some fruit.

My stomach growled. "Oh man." I clutched my gut. "I really hope that we can get some apples or something in here. If I don't eat something soon I'm gonna starve."

"Well this might be our lucky day," he said, pointing. "Look."

Sure enough, we were headed past an apple tree forest, something that we hadn't seen in awhile. "What luck!" I replied with a smile on my face. "I guess that comes with riding through an agricultural part of the country."

A couple minutes later, we were getting ready to jump up onto the tree limbs to retrieve our breakfast. "This'll be interesting," I heard Rus say. "Especially since we're going about eighty miles an hour right now."

The wind was blowing in my ears; I could barely hear my friend. "Don't you wimp out on me now. I'm too hungry for that."

He looked over to me. "Whoever gets the most apples wins!" He said, jumping up on an overhead limb, grabbing as many apples as he could while the train was speeding under his feet. He kept collecting the food and dropping it in his canvas bag, and then landed back on the freight before the caboose had passed his feet.

"Hey no fair!" I called out, laughing. I jumped up and repeated his same process, letting Rin off of my arm as I jumped up to help me collect the fruit. As the caboose came up, I dropped down next to Rus, Rin still back on my shoulder. We both had two bags full of succulent apples.

We later sat, enjoying our bounty under the now midday sun. Head stuck in his bag, Rus said, "So how many did you get?"

"Nineteen," I responded in confidence. There was no way he could have beaten me.

But to my dismay, he replied with an unexpected answer. "Ha! Twenty-six. Beat ya!"

Ah well. I bit into one of my apples, sucking the sweet juice out of it as I stared across the landscape. We were out of the forest now, and we could see the Collosen Forest in the distance. I offered Rin an apple, and he took it in his luminescent paws.

"I wonder what the view will be like from the top of that big one over there." I pointed to a large tree that was standing over the rest.

"I don't know," Rus answered. "But I bet I've seen a better view from the top of another tree." He laid back and looked at the sky, obviously daydreaming of something from his past.

I laid back as well, still munching on my apple core."Yeah, me too."

That's what I liked about Rus. He didn't talk much about where he came from, nor did he question me on my origin. He lived in the moment, just like I tried to do. But I did think about Tenrou a lot, and Mavis most of all. God I missed her. It's hard to have someone that you've seen everyday for eight years and then one day just not see them at all. She was my master. My friend. No, not a friend. A sister. My baby sister. I would give anything to hear her voice again, and see those little wings poking out from the sides of her head.

"Hey knucklehead, we're here," Rus said, dislodging me from my thought. "But it looks like we might be a little more business than just play right now. Look." He gestured over to the gargantuan forest which now had a pillar of black smoke ascending from it.

I cracked my knuckles. "Great," I replied. "They better be a dark guild." I smiled. "Because I'm hungry for a little bit of blood."

Oh did I forget to mention it? Yeah. Amidst our carefree, touristy activities, Rus and I liked to stop by in every town and see if there were any bullies around. Dark guilds. But we didn't bring them in. Oh no. We were the judges, jury, and executioners.


	17. Chapter 17: Renegadedom

We were hanging off of the edge of the freight, hopper's crooks hooked onto some various rungs on the side of the car. The wind blew in our faces; I could see Rus' black hair whipping in it. Ahead, the tower of smoke was billowing up, becoming more and more massive with every passing second. The train was slowing down. I could tell that the engineers were anxious just from the speed and tentativeness that the train was moving at. We were still hauling at a pretty good pace, but it was nowhere near top speed.

As we approached the carnage, what we saw was utter devastation. The forest was in chaos. There were numerous figures around the singular giant tree that we had seen in the distance, all in mismatched garb. But one thing was certain: these people were wizards. It could be plainly seen in their physiques, as well as their clothing. Also, the spells coming from their hands were kind of a dead giveaway. It looked like there was about twenty of them.

"What are they doing?" I asked Rus.

He looked onward, not answering right away. He was just as shocked as I was. "It looks like… they're cutting down the tree for some reason. But why?"

"Let's get off," I said to him. He nodded in agreement. We both hopped off of our ride that had been taking us for the past few hours, letting it chug along the tracks without us. We were about fifty meters away from the other wizards that were devastating the tree.

"We've got to do something!" Rus said to me, taking off his brown cap that he usually wore and sticking it in his pocket. This meant that he was gearing up for a fight. I followed suit, detaching my earring and requipping it into a katana. I nodded to him.

But right as we were about to charge and unleash our full fury on these dark wizards, we were struck by the sight of about a dozen people on the ground, beaten so relentlessly that they couldn't even move. They were soldiers, marked clearly by their shiny helmets and blue-and-yellow pinstripe uniforms. Among the ten or so uniformed men on the ground, there was one large man that was entirely armor-clad, with a built physique and brown hair, along with a clean-shaven definitely looked like he was in charge, because the wizards had beaten him even more than the others. Underneath each of his tree trunks of arms were two petite girls, one that looked about twenty three and the other around seventeen. They looked misplaced. They were fair-skinned and were adorned with multiple pieces of jewelry, as if they belonged in a palace.

"Rus, wait!" I said in a hushed tone, grabbing my friend's arm. "We've got to look out for for those people, they don't look like they're with these guys."

He looked over and nodded, complying with this. "Well, this just got a whole lot harder."

I smiled. "Hey, it's not like we can't handle it."

He chuckled. "I guess you're right. Let's do it."

I jumped up from behind the bush that we were hiding, straight into the air. I unfurled my demonic and angelic wing, suspending me in midair. A couple of the thugs saw me, and pointed me out to their compatriots. _Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted them to do._ As I was drawing their attention away from the ground, Rus swooped in as a shadow and dragged off the wounded soldiers and royal-looking green-haired girls. I dodged most of their spells with ease, but there were a few spells that grazed me.

" _Will you hurry up?!"_ I said to Rus, using some telepathic magic. We used it occasionally when we were coordinating attack and such. " _I'm getting roasted alive up here!"_

" _Gimme a second!"_ He replied. " _These guys all have armor on! They're heavy!"_

I gritted my teeth as I evaded attack after attack, getting the occasional burn from some black energy that was shot. I kept looking as more and more of the wounded were disappearing from the danger field, gearing up for an attack. After the last one was vacated, I saw Rus come back up from his shadow-form and give me a mocking salute. I rolled my eyes as I place my hands on top each other, my aura now glowing a heavenly gold.

The bright blue sky quickly turned to black, as if night had decided to come around early today. Seven bright yellow magic seals appeared in the sky above me, connected by strands of electric magic power. I called out to the poor souls that were about to be executed, knowing that these would be the last words they heard. "Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot!" I then forced all my pent up magic power downwards, large beams of power shooting down from the magic seals that were in the sky, erupting in a vast display of light. The dark mages below cringed in fear, some being thrown for hundreds of meters, whereas others just disintegrated on the spot. Branches and whole trees were thrown by the sheer amount of power from the spell.

I smiled and licked my lips in satisfaction. I felt… deliriously happy. I know that it may be cruel to say, but I _liked_ killing these guys. It gave me satisfaction to know that they'll never commit the same heinous acts that they did in the past. I found myself cackling in delirium subconsciously as the ground exploded below from my spell. Amongst the carnage though, I spotted a figure that stayed standing. It was a shade; an all black figure that was looking up at me, my spell not affecting it whatsoever. The only part of the figure that wasn't a shadow was the left eye that stared directly at me, shining a deep purple. No pupil. Just a purple pool that radiated magic power. As we locked gazes, I blinked and it was gone. I shook off the thought and looked back to my friend.

Rus, the able wizard that he was, were over by the people he rescued, generating a protective black orb of shield energy around them, sheltering them from the blast. As the light dimmed and the sky returned back to it's normal state, I flew down to him and smiled.

"You're such a show off." He said to me, as we fist-bumped each other.

"I'll let you kill the next batch of bad guys, I promise."

He cracked a grin. "Fair enough."

I looked down to the victims of the dark guild's attacks. They were all pretty worn out, some even had blood on them. My grin had vacated, my face returning to a solemn expression. "Let's try and heal these people as best we can." I said. "Lay them out and check if they're alive. Let's start with the girls first."

I moved the large armored man's arm away from the two petite females that he was protecting. He grunted as we moved him, signifying that he was still alive. At least that was good. I brought the younger one out from underneath his grasp, cradling her head so it wouldn't hit the ground. She was unconscious, but still breathing. Her face was battered and bruised, with a small trail of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. I laid her on the ground and concentrated, blue magic emanating from my fingertips. I wasn't an expert at healing magic, but I was a dragon slayer, so Sky Dragon magic was largely healing. I bet I could save her.

I saw her bruises fade, as well as minor cuts heal themselves under the blue glow. Her breathing became more regular and I saw her eyelids flutter open. Her green eyes pierced me. She tried sitting up, but held her head and pushed her back down to the ground.

"Whoa there tiger, you need to not move an inch right now," I said to her. "I need to go and tend to the others, stay put."

I moved over to the soldiers, checking their heartbeats and healing them if they were still alive. As I was doing do, I heard the young one was trying to get some words out, but all she could manage was: "My… sister…"

I stopped what I was doing, and looked over to Rus. He was still over the older girl, healing her as much as he could, but he didn't look like he was being very successful. I grimaced. Rus was a much better wizard than I was and if he couldn't heal her, then there wasn't much that we could do. After a couple minutes, he closed his eyes and shook his head.

The younger one kept trying to sit up to check on her sibling, but I eventually just used some sleep magic on her to sedate her for now. The last thing that she should deal with at a time like this was the death of her sister.

We continued healing the men, saving all but four of them. As Rus and I both joined our powers on treating the armored man, his eyes shot open and he grabbed us both by the throats. He sat up, yelling, "Tartaros scum!"

We winced in pain as his meaty hands wrapped around our necks, gasping for breath. The other soldiers stopped him, stating that we weren't the bad guys. He eventually calmed down and released us.

In his deep voice, he said, "You two looked a little skinny for Tartaros anyways."

As we caught our breaths, I asked him, "What are you all doing out here? Who are you?"

The mountain of a man stood up in front of us, straightening his composure. I was amazed that he could even move, let alone stand. "I'm Captain Arcadios of the Fiore Royal Army. We were here accompanying the princesses-" He stopped midsentence looking around frantically for the royals he was charged with protecting.

We saw him look over the older, and noticed that she wasn't breathing. Her white and green dress was stained with blood. He dropped to his knees, putting his hand on her cold shoulder.

"We did all we could," Rus said, "but she was too far gone. No one can resurrect the dead."

"We did manage to save the younger one though," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "She's unconscious, but alive."

He hadn't moved, tears in his eyes. He ran his hand down the corpse's cheek, trying to feel warmth that wasn't there. We looked down, and, not knowing what to do, turned and headed to the tracks from where we had come. We heard the younger girl wake up, and start bawling at the sight of her dead sister. As we were walking away, the captain called out to us.

"Wait!" He called. "Come back here."

We went back to the large man who was now helping up the sobbing princess. She held her head, but she seemed otherwise alright. "We are in your debt," he said. "Please, come with us, and we will discuss repayment."

"We don't want any money," Rus replied with his hands up, refusing the offer. "We just like to kill dark wizards."

"Then a job perhaps?" Said the young royal that was leaning on the knight, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Her voice was shaky, but she tried to force the words out. "Fiore is rampant with dark guilds. What you destroyed was just a small part of a large guild that has overrun Fiore. Please, we could use your help."

Rus and I looked to each other and shrugged, as if saying _Well, we don't have anything better to do._ We nodded in agreement and started standing with the military men. Before we left, though, I took my cloak off and put it over the corpse of the older princess, and picked her up.

I rejoined the group, carrying the body of a life taken too soon.

Rus also did his part, at the wave of a hand letting the four dead soldiers sink into the ground, flowers blooming up where they had laid. The rest of us bowed our heads in respect to the sacrifices of the brave men. When he was done with his magic, Rus looked over to me and gestured to put the body down.

"I think that she should be buried in her kingdom," I said to him, as well as the others. "We can catch a train to Fiore and be there by morning. It's not right to leave her here though."

Overcome by grief, the Captain nodded, and in thanks, asked us, "What are your names, strangers?"

"I'm Rus," my partner said. "And him over there," he looked over to me, carrying the body of the royal, "that's Halciel. We're Renegades."


	18. Chapter 18: The Contract

I saw the large, armored military captain sit down on the dusty floor of a moving boxcar, removing his dark green cape down on the ground so that his princess could sit down. She was still distraught, I could tell. But that was to be expected. Her sister just died, for crying out loud. The body was laying down in the opposite end of the car, still covered by my threadbare overcoat.

It was dark outside now. We had caught a train back to Fiore as fast as we possibly could have, but it still took all day. The sun had gone down about an hour ago, and the night sky had finally faded to a deep navy, stars twinkling. I sat on the edge of the car, looking out into the darkness, my blindfold moving back and forth rapidly in the wind.

"This is highly unorthodox," I heard the captain say. "I'm sure if we had a word with the engineers, they'd happily let us ride in a more… _comfortable_ place."

I stayed silent, not wanting to instigate a conflict between us. I just kept looking out into the shadowy horizon, trying to concentrate on how we were going to handle the whole situation.

Rus spoke up. "No can do, pops. You see, engineers don't exactly take kindly to people with this mark right here," he said, pulling down his shirt collar. On his collarbone, there was a guild mark of the Ryder Guild, same to the one I had on my right shoulder. Every train hopper had one. It looked like the Hopper gear that we used, two blades on the outside surrounding a hook symbol that looked like a Hopper's Crook. Whenever you met someone on the rails without one, you gave them a guild mark. Happens to every good hopper. Rus continued talking. "We're train hoppers, and those nice people up giving us a free ride don't like that we bum off of their hard work. Plus I don't think that they'd be too keen on letting us bring a body up there, no matter how royal it is."

My jaw clenched. Rus was treading on some mighty thin ice. I doubt that the Captain would be very forgiving if he kept talking about the deceased princess like that.

Rus turned to me. "Isn't that right Hal?" I looked at him, then to Arcadios, and nodded.

"All do respect Cap, it's better to just fly under the radar. Just try and get some sleep. We'll tell you when we need to depart tomorrow." And with that, I stood up, grabbed on some ladder rungs that were on the outside of the car, and hoisted myself up onto the roof. Rin followed suit, scurrying up the side and taking his place next to me, curling up on the cold roof. On my back, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal. I held it up to my lips and blew, a soft sound coming from it.

Within a few seconds, Rus' head poked up from the side of the freight car. "Playing your harmonica I see? Well, don't let me stop you. Go on ahead." He climbed up the rest of the way and laid flat on his back next to me, putting his arms behind his head and his cap over his face. I kept playing, producing a slow, soft, and possibly even sad melody that echoed out into the night sky. As I blew into the harp, I closed my eyes, picturing Mavis, sitting on the edge of a branch, taking a nap in the late afternoon sun. This vision just added a more poignant bluesy tone to my song, the notes practically playing themselves. After a few minutes, I put the instrument back in my pocket and let it's tune hang in our minds as the train rushed past the countryside.

"That is one sad melody, Aiyum." Rus said, puncturing the silence. "You make a man think about what he's lost."

"I didn't mean to," I replied quietly. "It was just the way the notes were playing tonight. There's not much cause for celebration."

We were noiseless for another few moments, until I asked him, "Why did you tell them my name was Halciel?"

"An identity is a man's prize possession, Aiyum. We can't let people of authority know who we really are."

"Then why didn't you tell them a fake name?" I asked him, puzzled.

"I did."

I was shocked. It had never occurred to me that he was lying about his true identity to me. I hadn't known him for very long, sure, but I still thought that we had a sort of bond and trust. But that did comfort me in a way. I knew that there was something off-putting about Rus, something that he wasn't telling me. Hopefully it was only his name.

"Well thanks for clueing me in ya jerk." I responded playfully, punching him in his arm.

He smiled and punched me back, saying, "It's better that you don't know who I truly am."

"Maybe."

X...X...X

Days had passed. We were in the Fiore Kingdom now, surrounded by posh living and nobility. The days had been gloomy since our return. Gray clouds hung in the air, like a curse of sorrow that wouldn't lift. There was an intense sense of silence, every day, from every person. When you passed them on the streets, there were no bustling marketplaces, no friendly faces, just faces that hung, staring at the wet ground.

The death of a beloved royal would do that to a kingdom I suppose. There wasn't much to celebrate. I didn't feel it anymore though. I cause so much death on a day to day basis that it had lost it's meaning to me. Rus as well. We didn't think about it, because it was just an instinct to us. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to it, it just happened. People died. Sometimes we were the killers. And sometimes we weren't.

We were standing in a dark, royal battle strategy room, over a large map of Earth Land. Scattered across it were X's that dotted the landscape. There were hundreds of them, more than we could count.

"There are about four or five main dark guilds in Earth Land," said the princess, flattening out the map. She had black garb on, in mourning of her sister. Her green hair was packed up tightly in a bun, held together by a black ribbon. She continued to point out targets. "They have a multitude of locations and guild halls, which is why we need you two. You have shown an affluence for dispensing dark wizards. I have the utmost confidence that you are capable of helping us clear them away."

Rus was over by the table, while I leaned back in a chair in the corner. He spoke. "It looks like the five are Phantom Lord, Raven Tail, Grimoire Heart, The Oracion Seis, and a guild called Tartaros."

Captain Arcadios spoke up. "Some had some brief agressions with the Fairy Tail Guild that led to their decline, but they've since resurged. It's your job to make sure they go down, and stay down."

Still leaning back in my chair, hands behind my head, I agreed. "Sounds good, Tin Man. Let's get to it Rus." I got up and started heading out the door. Rus started to follow. But before we could leave, the princess ordered the guards to stop us.

"You can't just go out and start dispensing of guilds without our permission! You are here as hunters under the Fiore Kingdom, and you must act as such! You will take orders directly from Arcadios. We aren't running some hum-drum operation here."

I whirled around and got in the girl's face. She was significantly shorter than I was, so I had to bend over to get onto eye-level with her. "All do respect _your highness,_ you asked us to be here. We do things our way." I stood up straight and started pushing my way through the guards. "Come on Rus, let's go."

"I think she has a point Aiyum." Rus responded, putting his his hand on my shoulder. "If we really want to do this as efficiently as possible, and be effective at it, we need a battle strategy."

"And _you and I_ can figure it out. On the road. Like we always do."

"Not this time man. We aren't Renegades. We're assassins. Mercs. This is what we were meant to do. I know it."

I looked into his charcoal eyes and could tell that he was serious. I sighed, stepped back into the room, and placed my hands on the map. "Alright, where do we start?"

Arcadios smiled. "First we need to get you branded."

My eyebrows shot up as he said the words. He called in a slim, short man with a multitude of tattoos lining his entire body. He had with him a silver briefcase of which I was scared to see the contents of. When he spoke, a deep, Eastern accent came from his mouth, it's richness rolling off of his tongue.

"I am here to make tattoos," he said, sitting down and popping open his briefcase. Black needles radiating magic power lined the inside. "Who is first?"

I looked over at Rus as I sat down, and he just shrugged with a sympathetic smile. In our telepathic channel, I angrily said, _What did you get us into?!"_

X...X...X

We walked along the train tracks, waiting for a train to pass by to take us to our next destination. We were going on a guild raid that was mapped out for us by the Fiore military. As we hiked along, my side and arm pounded.

"We aren't Renegades you said, it's what we were meant to do you said. And now I've got military marks up and down my arm. Nice Rus. Nice."

I kept pouting as we trudged along. I heard the rumbling of a train in the distance, and it was approaching fast. We took out our Hopper's Crooks and fastened them onto our forearms.

"Oh come on you big baby," Rus replied, looking back at our riding that was catching up to us. "I had to get them too. And I think they look cool."

The train zoomed past us, blowing our clothes every which way. We ran alongside it, hooking our crooks onto the boxcars and hoisting ourselves up to the top of the train. Once we were situated on the roof, I resumed the argument.

"Still, they didn't have to make them so freakin' _big_." I rolled up my sleeve and looked at my arm in dismay. On my left bicep was the mark of the Fiore military, a black ankh that almost wrapped around my entire arm. And if that wasn't bad enough, on my ribs they had put a giant crest of the Fiore Kingdom, covering a third of my side. "They hurt like a bitch too."

Rus pulled up his shirt to look at the crest, the same size and shape as mine. "I guess they wanted to make sure we were committed to the cause," he guessed. He looked up at me. "They're not wrong, are they?"

"No, but still, I don't like all this ink. And plus that princess put me on edge."

He leaned back, careful of the tender spots on his skin. He winced as he put his arm down. "You know what I think?" He asked. "I think you like her."

I scowled in unamusement. "Very funny." I slapped him in his ribs, right where he was tender. As he howled in pain, my scowl turned into a grin quickly.

A few moments passed. "Hey Rus?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Back there you said that we weren't renegades. But we aren't exactly going along with the rules."

"How so?"

"Well, we aren't bringing the bad guys in. We're just killing them ourselves. I don't have a problem with that, but that doesn't make us heroes, and I don't think we should act like them."

"I guess you're right," He agreed. "I guess, in a way, we are still renegades."


	19. Chapter 19: Back to the Guild

**Hey guys! Here's a new installment! A little longer this week, but I think you'll enjoy the plot in this one! If you haven't please follow if you like or review if you have something to say about it! See ya next week!**

The green memory analyzer screen shimmered out, revealing the shocked faces of my Fairy Tail guild mates. I looked at them, and, not knowing what to do, smiled awkwardly. After a few more moment of extended silence, I decided to breach the quiet.

"So… that's pretty much the jist of it. Rus and I went all around Earth Land and took out a bunch of guilds. We went incognito, got their guild marks, and evaluated the worthiness of each guild. That's why I have so many marks. Some were destroyed. But some weren't."

Lucy opened her mouth. "You knew… Hisui and Arcadios? And they didn't tell us? Why?"

I shrugged. "You probably just didn't ask the right questions. Plus there's some history there in those last few years that they probably don't want to remember. We were top secret. Hell, I was dubbed the Renegade to make sure I didn't look like I was working with the government. If citizens knew that, there would be a revolution."

Gildarts rose from his knelt position. He looked at me. "What is Acnologia's interest in you?"

He had a grim expression on his face. I could tell that there was a lot of weight in this question. I looked at his body, and saw some varying robotic prosthetics on his arm and leg, along with a bandaged midsection. I observed him and chuckled. Looking up at him, I smiled and said, "You've seen him before, haven't you? The devil himself? Sure is something, isn't he?"

"Answer my question, assassin."

I clenched my jaw at that term. I thought that I wasn't an enemy, but I could tell that this was a touchy subject for Gildarts. I sighed. "Truth is, I don't know. All I do know is that he has a hell of a lot more information on me than even I do." I looked up at him. "Happy?"

He fell silent and stepped back, not entirely satisfied with my answer.

"Now," I turned to Makarov. "Can we do something about these shackles please? You know I'm no enemy to Fairy Tail. Mavis, tell them."

I looked over to my petite sister, but was reciprocated only with silence and a downward glance.

"Mavis? Are you okay?"

"When… when were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I asked, never seeing this side of her before.

She lifted her head up, tears streaming down her fair-skinned cheeks. My heart was caught in my throat, and I didn't even know what I had done wrong. She spoke. "When were you going to tell me that you knew _him_?"

Him? Him who? There was a lot of people in those memories, and I doubt she had known many of them. I thought I was forging completely new relationships with people on the road.

"Who are you talking about?"

"That man! The one you called Rus! That's Zeref!"

Shit. Everything made sense now. Why he was so obsessed with death. And killing. And wanting all the dark guilds to suffer miserable demises. He was the Black Wizard. The Master of 10,000 demons. And surprisingly enough, my best friend.

X...X...X

"Mavis, you have _got_ to believe me, I had no idea who he was. I am _so_ sorry."

I was on my knees, holding onto the little wizard's frilly dress. We were back in our room at the guildhall now. Once I had told my piece and answered a few more questions, they had said that they were satisfied with my answers and I could be back out in the guild, working. But if I had any more substantial secrets, then I'd be tied up in that prison again real quick. And let me tell you, if that's the case, then I'd be back up there real soon.

Looking down at the ground, I closed my eyes and regretted every second I had spent with Rus. No matter how great a friend he was, he was not Mavis. I had spent two years with Rus. I had eight to count with Mavis. There was nothing to break the bond that the two of us shared. Plus, Rus was too dark for me. He brought out the worst in me. Something, that I don't ever want to be again. My blindfold was damp from my eyes watering. Mavis was one of the only things that mattered to me in this world.

She sighed and lifted my head up. She wore a serious but kind face. "I believe you," she said softly. "And it's not really your fault, it's just… that... _man_ … is something that should never be toiled with. He's a force of nature. Sheer destruction follows him."

She saw that I was still uneasy, and that I didn't know what to say. To respond, she simply hopped up into my arms and buried her face in my shoulder. "No matter what happens, you're still my big brother."

I inhaled shakily, putting my hand on her tiny golden head. I exhaled. "Thank you, Mavis. You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, right?"

Her voice still muffled by my shoulder, she said, "I know."

X...X...X

Life had returned to normal. Well, normal-ish. As normal as things can get with me. Son of a god, remember? Anyways, after the whole locked-up-and-questioned thing happened, I had been released back into the world, albeit a little hesitantly. I guess they had decided that although I had a peppered past, I hadn't exactly done anything innately _evil_. I had killed people, for sure, but it was for a good cause, and for the most part, sanctioned by the government. But there was that one time. When I was in the air, watching my power crash down on that section of Tartaros guild. My maniacal laughter. Along with that shade with the single purple eye. It was haunting. I wasn't even sure if the others had seen it when we reviewed the memory, but I sure had. It was something that bothered me to this day, and I hadn't even noticed back in the Renegade years.

About a month had passed since I had revealed some of my past to the officers of Fairy Tail. They had been distant towards me in the past few weeks, but had recently started to slowly warm back up to me. I bet they just realized that there was a lot more to me than they had originally thought. I can't really blame them I guess. If I saw that one of my colleagues had a bunch of mysterious guild marks and tattoos, I'm sure that I would want some answers too.

In the past month, I had gone out on many jobs, trying to accumulate enough money to earn my keep back at the guild hall. They weren't necessarily tough jobs, but they paid the rent, along with Mavis' monstrous appetite. I swear, every day that we came back from a job, she would eat every scrap of food in the entire guild hall. She even beat Natsu in an eating contest. It was insane; such a little thing could eat so much. But Mira was happy to keep the food coming. She had been great throughout the whole debacle with the memory analyzer and such. No matter what she had seen me do on that screen, her sunny disposition never changed. I always saw a big smile on that face. She was a comforting presence.

One particular night, Mavis and I were coming back from a job that had left us in the wild for about a week. We hadn't really minded too terribly much, since we had spent eight years in the Tenrou wilderness together. And Mavis had been there much, _much_ longer than I had. So we had been living out of a tent for a few days, nothing but mixed berries and nuts that we had either conjured or scavenged in the forest. As we burst into the guild hall from the dark outdoors, Mavis cried out, "Mira, give me every scrap of meat that you have in the back! I'm starved!"

She immediately sat down at the bar, awaiting her platter of food that was about to come forth from the kitchen. I threw a bag of jewel on the counter as I passed. "That should cover it Mira." I patted Mavis on the head as I sat down on the stool next to her. "And get me a pint of whatever draft we've got tonight."

"Coming right up!" she responded, getting a frosted glass and putting it to the beer tap. As I propped my head on my hand, she asked, "Tough job?"

I grumbled. "Not really. But it was long. And not exactly luxurious. Needles to say, I'm glad we're back home." I smiled at her.

She put the frothy, golden liquid in front of me, along with a few jewel. "This one's on the house," she said.

I picked up the money, along with the mug, and put it to my mouth and drank. After draining about half the glass, I wiped the foam from my mouth, a buzz starting in the back of my head. I leaned back on my stool happily, exuding an audible "Aaaaahh," as I relaxed.

To my right, Mavis was stuffing her face with a chicken leg. As she kept on with her battle with the chicken she looked over to me staring at her. Mouth still full, she held up the half-eaten drumstick. "Want some?" she asked, her voice muffled by the food.

I chuckled and shook my head, leaning back onto my arm, sipping my pint lazily as I watched my sister eat energetically. "How...can...you not be… hungry?" she asked between bites. "We spent like a week out in the wilderness."

I took a swig from my beer. "I sustain myself on alcohol and the energy of the universe," I said sarcastically. I saw a smile on Mira's face as I said it. "Speaking of which, Mira, could I get another round?" She nodded happily.

As Mira went and got me another beer, Mavis rolled her eyes at my remark. "You might be the son of a god, but don't give me any of the 'energy of the universe' crap. Here." She shoved a rib in my face, not giving an inch until I ate it. We kept at this for a few minutes until I was holding her back by her face, her arms windmilling at her sides, hands full of assorted meats.

As we fought, I saw my guild mates laugh in endearment at the two of us. I even saw Makarov crack a smile. They could doubt my loyalties all they wanted, but there was thing that I knew they knew for sure: I loved my baby sister.

Later that night, Mavis helped me up the stairs to our room, my feet dragging below. I had had a little too much to drink, and I was paying for it now. I was a little bit of a lightweight. Didn't really know my limit I guess. I was no Cana. I crashed down on our bed, struggling to remove my shirt and boots. I laid there in the dark, and a few minutes later, Mavis came in and latched onto my arm under the covers, per usual. We laid there for a few moments, our breathing getting slower.

"You stink," she said quietly, her face burrowed in my arm.

"Well, I'm not gonna take a shower now," I responded. "I'm too tired."

She grunted in displeasure as she wrinkled her nose, soldiering through the odor. I grinned internally, my annoyance to her amusing me in my stupor. I laid there, stupidly smiling, slipping into my unconscious.

X...X...X

"Wake up! Aiyum, wake up, _please_!"

I heard Mavis' small voice as the wizard shook me awake. It wasn't even morning yet. Looking outside, the night sky was still completely dark, dark clouds hanging above. The dark edges of the room weren't illuminated by Rin anymore. I still hadn't recovered him from the ravine where I had escaped from Acnologia. I was weaponless, my earring gone as well.

I sat up, Mavis standing next to me. "What is it Mavis?" I asked, still in a daze. Then I saw something disturbing. I saw her image flicker for a half a second, like static on a magic screen. It was like she was an illusion, one that was fading in and out.

I saw fear in her eyes. "Something's wrong," she said. "I think I know what, but we have to hurry."

Not wasting a second, I got up and threw off the covers, and bolted out the door, following Mavis down the dark hallway. We were going a top speeds, trying desperately to get to wherever she needed to go. We raced down the stairs, past the bar and empty tables. The darkness was hauntingly ominous. As I followed my sister, I saw her flicker in and out. I gulped in fright, not knowing what was going on.

We flew down another hallway that I hadn't even known existed, and down a large few flights of stairs, leading underground. The air was heavier here. And colder. I could sense intense magic power emanating from some unknown source down here. But I didn't know what. As we ran down the bottom floor, Mavis searching for something. We heard clangs and booms coming from the end of the dark hall.

As we approached the source of the noise, we saw a large, stone door that was elaborately carved into shapes of the guild. There, I saw figures of every master that had ever been, or would be. There was Mavis, Precht Gaebolg, Makarov, Macao, Gildarts, and some others that I didn't completely recognize. There was one, in the background, that was an overarching figure: a dragon.

I shook off the thoughts, recognizing that I needed to focus on the task at hand. I pushed open the heavy stone door that was in front of me, it swinging open slowly. As I did, though, I came upon a horrific sight. I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Mavis. Well, not Mavis, the one that was standing next to me, but it _was_ Mavis. I didn't understand. Entrapped in a giant lacrima was the body of my petite little sister, surrounded by multiple figures that were cloaked, coming out of a black magic portal. I knew who they were. I had killed enough of them to know. Tartaros. At their head, was a familiar face. He cracked a toothy grin as he stepped out of the portal and into the center of the room. Mavis hid behind me, obviously scared of the beast of a man in front of us.

"I wasn't sure you could make it One, but I'm glad you did. This effort would have been wasted without you." Acnologia stretched his one arm upwards, gesturing to our surroundings. There was about ten wizards here, some that I recognized, some that I didn't. It looked like a few of them weren't in their right minds, though. There eyes were lifeless, unmoving. They stood at attention, like hypnotic soldiers that were awaiting a command. A few of the faces were familiar.

I started putting names to faces. Of the ones I knew, I saw Minerva Orland, Sherria Blendy, and Orga Nanagear. Sherria and Orga's lifeless bodies swayed with the eminence of magic power from their leader. There were others amongst them, but that was all I knew.

"What do you want, demon?" I asked him.

"Oh I'm the demon?" He cackled, pacing the floor. "One, you've been in this world for so long and you still don't know who you are? That's rich."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Right, right. One, I am here to give you a little bit of incentive. You see, we can't have you just going around, gallivanting as if you don't have a job to do. You're here for a purpose. I'm simply here to give you a little… push."

"What are you getting at?" I clenched my fists at my side, multicolored sparks of magic power flying out of them uncontrollably with my anger.

He paced around the large room, between Mavis' lacrima-encased body and myself. He had his hands behind his back, relaxed as ever. I could feel Mavis' hands on my arm, clenched tight, but shimmering in and out, like they weren't completely there. I think he was doing something to her with that giant lacrima.

"One, there is something coming. Something that neither you, nor I, can prevent. The difference between us is that I am going along with it. Making the most out of it. And I can't simply let you stand on the sidelines." His enlarged canines shown sharply when he cracked his grin.

"What makes you think you can force me to do anything?"

Chuckling under his breath once more, he jumped up to the lacrima, landing right beside it. In his only hand, he sprouted some black energy that radiated darkness. He brought it closer to the magic stone, it increasing with power as it got closer and closer. Behind me, Mavis collapsed to the ground, wailing in pain.

I whirled around and knelt on the ground, cradling her petite body in my lap. I saw her fading in and out, her face twisted, wincing in pain. "Hold on, Mavis. I'll stop this."

I saw tears coming out of her eyes as she reached up to touch my cheek. "Please…" she whimpered. "Help…"

I looked up to my foe. "Alright, you have my attention! Now what do you want?"

He lowered his arm, shifting his gaze back to me. "It's simple, really. I want a good ol' college try!"

"You still haven't given me anything to go off of."

"Oh you'll know it when it comes around. A storm is coming, and you aren't allowed to avoid it, One. If you try, well, then your little sister here will be ripped from existence."

Mavis fell unconscious in my lap as Acnologia was talking. I gently laid her head onto the ground, and looked downwards, a shadow covering my face. "I think not," I said with assurance. His eyes lit up with surprise. I kept talking. "I won't have to do anything that you say because you are going to die, right here, right now."

"Oh is that so-" My foe's sentence was cut off by a square hit to his face, my fist firmly planted within his face. As my hit connected, I imbued magic energy into the blow, sending him flying backwards into the wall. The smooth rock behind him cracked under the sheer impact. I wasn't messing around this time. If he wanted to kill me, fine, but I wasn't going to let _anyone_ hurt Mavis. She was the most important thing in my life.

The dragon man wiped some drool from the edge of his mouth, looking at me angrily. "Okay One, you want to play? I understand." In a flash, he brought his arm forward. With the action, massive blue magic energy shot forth and shooting me the opposite direction. Amongst the chaos, I grabbed a floor tile and sheltered Mavis from the blow, taking another hit. I gritted my teeth. This wasn't going to be easy. But losing wasn't an option.

But as soon as I thought that, I felt a searing pain in my head. My blood boiled. My head spun. I collapsed on the ground, looking up to see black magic hitting me from two of the mages above.

Acnologia removed himself from the wall and sauntered over to me, watching the pain I was enduring. He knelt down to my level. "You like it, One? It's a little something I figured a while back. You may not know it, but these two are God Slayers." He gestured to Orga and Sherria. "They may not exactly be on my side, but with a little Manipulation Magic, they were easy to break."

"What...are you doing...to me?" I said with a struggle. The pain was excruciating. It was all I could do to stop from passing out.

My foe stood back up. "It was just a hunch I had, really. But I am _so glad_ it worked out! You see, God Slayer may not be as powerful as dragon slayer magic, but it sure as hell works against The One!"

"I'm not… One…" I cried out. "That's… my… father." Foam was coming out of my mouth as I tried to get the words out.

"Nevertheless, you were raised by him. Which means that the weaknesses _he_ has, you have too!"

I clawed my way forward, trying desperately to get to him. My vision was fading. I couldn't see much anymore; only my one target. Because of the sheer effort and pain, I vomited to the side, but kept taking the brunt of the blows from the God Slayers.

"Well, I really must be off," the dragon man walked away, back to the giant lacrima. A giant black portal opened up behind it, the Tartaros guild members heading. "Oh yes, I almost forgot." Acnologia reached into his cloak and produced a small ball of bluish light and threw it on the ground in front of me. It was Rin, with his paws bound, my dragon tooth earring attached to a chain around his neck. "You really must take better care of your weapons, One. You'll need them soon."

I kept slowly crawling to him, trying to stop him. I knew what he was going to do. I couldn't even make out words anymore, but I knew enough of my opponent to know what he was planning.

"I'm taking this as an… _insurance policy_ ," he said, patting the lacrima. "You'll never see her again unless you come and fight. You'll know when the time is right."

I mustered the strength for words, amidst the pain and foam coming from my mouth. "DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!" I barked. "DON'T!"

He mock saluted me and headed through the portal, the God Slayers following. As they were all leaving, I summoned a lightning whip and grabbed Minerva by the ankle, pulling her away from the portal. But with that, the magic barrier vanished, along with the lacrima. Behind me, Mavis had disappeared. I gritted my teeth and put my head down to the ground, tears welling up in my blindfold. The only thing in this world I truly cared about. Gone.

I had to get her back. Immediately. I wasn't just sad. I was mad. No, not mad. Furious. I was going to get her back, no matter how many wizards I had to kill. Now that the God Slayers had left, my strength was gradually returning. I stood, and looked over to the witch that I had caught.

Behind her, lurking in the shadows, I saw a dark figure. With a singular purple eye, glimmering with dark magic energy. The sick light highlighted a twisted grin below. I paid no attention to it. I had other things to do.

"Now…" I said to her as I turned my fist into iron. My lips curled into an involuntary smile. "Let's have a chat, shall we?"


	20. Chapter 20: The Lilac Demon

**Hey guys! Here's this week's installment! It's a little shorter this week, but I gave you like 4,000 last week and I don't wanna overwhelm ya! As usual, if you like, please follow and favorite! If you have any questions, comments, or recommendations, feel free to leave a review or PM me! Thanks, I'll see you guys next week!**

Things were going well.

I had been getting some pretty good information out of the woman that I had trapped, albeit it had to be taken. But hey, whatever gets the job done is what I always say. She was a dark wizard anyways. She didn't matter.

In front of me, crumpled in a heap on the ground, was the once-proud wizard Minerva. But she was no threat to me. She had bruises up and down her body; her clothes were torn in numerous places, along with several scorch marks to go with them.

"Wha-what are you…?" she asked in desperation, trying to remain in her conscious state.

I smiled, advancing towards her and leaning in real close. She tried to squirm away, but I just caught her throat in my steely grip. "Me? Oh, nothing special. I'm just a guy that _you_ pissed off."

I threw her back down onto the ground. I have to say, she wasn't putting up much of a fight. I would have thought that the great Minerva would have given me more resistance than what I had gotten, but I guess I was a little bit of an imposing presence when I was angry. I stood over her, a shadow of pain that was inevitably aimed towards her.

I turned my feet into steel, kicking her in her ribs with full force. I wound up like I was kicking a soccer ball, punting her up a good few feet. As she crashed back down on the floor, I heard bones snap. She turned to me, in tears. In a suspended effort, she forced out the words.

"Please… stop this…" She held out her hand. "Stay away… you devil…"

" _Oh you have NO IDEA how much of a devil I can be!"_ I said involuntarily, lunging towards her. As I was about to strike, time slowed down. I thought about my words, and concluded that they weren't my own. I hadn't even thought of them. They just sort of...popped out. Like instinct.

As I reflected, then scene in front of me turned gray, stopping entirely. This was no magic that I had heard of. Arc of Time magic could mess with time, but it couldn't stop reality completely. I was confused. But then, out of a dark corner of the room, came a raspy, cruel voice. It reminded of Acnologia, but it wasn't him. It was scarier. Because I recognized that voice. It was my own.

" _Perplexed, One?"_ It said, advancing towards me. I looked over. It was the shade that I had seen sporadically through my days as the Renegade. This was the first time over all those years that I had gotten a good look at it. But it was shocking.

It was me. Well, not _me_ me, but it was my silhouette. It was black, and clad in all of my attire, down to the boot. But one thing was different about the two of us. His eye. It was Talus'. Well, his left one at least. A shadowy blindfold concealed the other, but the exposed one was shining a deep purple, the light highlighting the features of his face. It was like looking in an evil mirror.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, puzzled.

" _Me?"_ He cackled, throwing his head up to the sky. " _Well, I'm you, silly! Can't you recognize your own body?"_

My brow furrowed. "I can see that, but what exactly _are_ you? You seem to just pop up randomly. Why?"

" _Oh, it's not random, One. Let's say that I'm your… emergency backup system. If you ever need the help, I'm there to assist you to my full potential. And right now, it seems like you need me."_

"And how can you do that?" I asked.

" _Our sister was captured, One. I'm here to help us get her back. I am satisfaction guaranteed!"_ He put up his thumb and attempt a wink, but it only looked like he was blinking because he only had the one eye exposed. I sighed. This guy obviously wasn't the brightest bulb in the box.

"How would you help us?"

" _It's actually really simple, my good sir! All that you need to do, is sign this little document here!"_ He held out his hand, a scroll appearing and unrolling. At the bottom was a dotted line for a signature.

"You still didn't answer my question."

" _Oh! Right right right. He held up the contract to his eye, reading it over._ He mumbled under his breath. "' _And I, the undersigned, agree to relinquish full control… until said job is completed…'"_

He looked up. " _Okay the basic jist is that when you sign this paper, I get full control of our body."_ He pointed to the scene that was unfolding in front of us, my body about to hit the female wizard that was cringing on the ground.

"I'm not sure I like that idea," I said.

He smiled, the shadow disappearing and reappearing right next to me. He whispered in my ear. " _Oh come on, One. I'm already half there. Look at us. We can do so many great things if we just_ work together."

I sighed. He _was_ being persuasive. "Okay, how about this? A trial run. I sign your little paper, and you finish interrogating this woman. You get two minutes. Two. And you aren't to leave this room. If I notice anything I don't like, I get to take back over. I don't care what you do to the girl, but you can't, under any circumstance, even interact with anyone else. This is my only offer. What do you say?"

He smirked, his eye glowing in satisfaction. " _You got it boss. Two minutes. No leavey the roomey. And no interact-y. Just sign on the dotted line."_ As he held up the contract, a dark quill appeared next to it. I grabbed it and scribbled my signature. As I did so, his eye started radiating even more magic power.

" _OH YEAH BABY!"_ he yelled, his magic power increasing a hundred times over. Beams of darkness shot up around him, moving his hair in sporadic movements. " _WE ARE IN BUSINESS!"_

X...X...X

What I witnessed in the next two minutes could be described as nothing other than horrifying. I saw the deepest, darkest part of myself in those one hundred and twenty seconds. It was like… a culmination of years as the Renegade, but concentrated so tightly into such a small time frame that not even the teensiest amount of light could shine.

As I signed the contract, I was sent back into my own body, but only for a split second. I was winding up to hit Minerva once again, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a clawed, shadowy hand wrench my consciousness out of my human figure. It was him. The shade. I didn't even know what to call him. He was me, but not me. It was all so convoluted. I was an onlooker now, watching my own body work on it's own.

The shadow sank into my physique, twisting and turning my magic power. Black and purple energy spiraled around him in a frenzy. His arms flailed as he tried to gain control, but he was being fought off by something. But it wasn't me. But this eventually subsided. He regained his posture, and his lips warped upwards in a maniacal grin.

" _Now THIS is more like it!"_ he said, his voice like a jagged knife cutting into bone. He held his hands upwards in triumph." _But I think it's time to get a little more juice!"_

And then, he did the unthinkable.

I watched in horror as I saw his hands go up to my blindfold, the one thing that kept my magic power at bay, and the one thing that kept me from dying. Only partially lifting it up, he removed it from one eye. It was strange. I had never seen my face without the blindfold on. Over my left eye was my Fairy Tail guild mark, once silver had now turned black. As he flitted the eyelid open, I cringed in fear for the explosion that was inevitably about to ensue.

But it didn't. He opened my eye without any problems. Well, one problem, but that was one for me. It was the eye itself. It was completely purple. Not the pupil. The entire eye. It was just like Talus' eye: a byzantium purple gateway to the universe. It was like looking into the night sky on a clear night, with the galaxy in full view. Stars were glimmering in it. It was… amazing. And extremely puzzling.

As the eye opened, it seemed stable. No boom. Just an extreme increase to his magic power. I saw the bricks on the wall actually crack under the pressure of his magic intensity. I saw a change in my body too. It looked like I had grown a couple inches above my regular six foot even. His teeth and ears pointed at the influx of power, and the marks from various guilds had warped and become more tribal. This wasn't me any more. It was the Shade. The Lilac Demon.

" _I am loving this!"_ he shouted, making his way to Minerva. He grabbed her by her throat and hoisted her up. " _Now, where is our baby sister?!"_ He asked, licking his lips.

She was bawling now. She was so scared now that I couldn't believe her heart hadn't stopped from all of the stress and utter terror. And all I could do is watch. "Please...don't kill me…"

I could see that the Demon was losing his patience. He only had a minute left now, and I knew he wanted to make it count. He smiled and stroked her cheek, her trembling as he did so. " _Do you like my eye?"_ he asked. " _I think it's the most beautiful thing in this world. It's everything: life and chaos. I bet that you would like an eye like this."_ I saw him turning his free hand into iron, and molding it into a sharp utensil. " _Oh, but lookie here,"_ He mused. " _You already have two."_ He chuckled, revealing two very sharp canines. He had thirty seconds left. " _Well, that's an easy fix."_

"No please don't-aagghh!"

Minerva's bloodcurdling scream rang wildly throughout the entire room as the Demon thrust his sharp, iron appendage into the mage's eye socket. Gouging out her eye, blood spurted forth. The Demon laughed giddily, approaching her softly and sweetly.

" _Now, where is she? I do believe you have another eye if you wanna make it a matching set!"_

Through tears and gags, the black-haired girl squaled, "Alvarez! They're in Alvarez! Now please, no more!" She curled up on the ground, utterly defeated. A devil once, a threat no longer.

" _Thanks,"_ he responded. " _You've been most helpful."_

He then turned to me, a spirit-like form outside of my true body. " _And lookie there! My time's up! Right on the nose too! Satisfied, One?"_

He dissipated out of the body, allowing me to retake control of it. I straightened my collar and observed the nearly dead woman on the floor next to me.

"Yes," I responded into the darkness.


End file.
